Your Fat Cat
by missmocha77
Summary: "May I suggest the low fat cat food in aisle three?" Itachi suggested. Sakura hissed at him. In which fat cats and rodent dogs are present. Their presence spurs on a heated rivalry and heated interest between two neighbors. ItaSaku, nonmassacre. "Sequel" is up.
1. Control Your Obese Creature!

This will be a drabble, usually never more than a page or two, with a few exceptions.

* * *

><p>Sakura woke up, bright and early, due to the swishing sound of a kunai being thrown through her window. She groaned aloud, hefting herself up from bed. The kunai was delivered along with her note. From her next door neighbor. <em>Lovely, <em>Sakura mused sarcastically. With little effort, she flung the kunai from her desktop and observed the note before opening it. It was the eighth complaint from her neighbor this week.

_**Dear Haruno Sakura-san, **_

_**Your obese feline has disturbed my sleep once again by sitting on my face. I suggest that you either control your wild animal or that you give him dietary cat food. If this happens once more, I will not be so lenient. **_

_**Your neighbor, **_

_**Uchiha Itachi**_

Sakura growled. She whipped out her own pen and shifted things around, looking for a piece of unused paper. She finally found one that was slightly crumbled and started scrawling in childish handwriting.

Dear Uchiha,

Your little rodent kept me awake all last night with its yapping. It's only fair. Don't be such a bitch.

Your angry neighbor,

Haruno Sakura.

There. That should teach him a lesson. She threw it through his window. Literally. There was the sound of glass shattering into a thousand pieces. Sakura started hearing confused little squeaks coming from the other side. Perfect. A smirk in place, she started preparing for her shift at the hospital. She glossed her lips and puckered up. There was a new medic at Konoha, and boy, was he fine! Most male nurses looked kind of gay, and he didn't. Well, maybe he did. He did have long hair after all. But he had a nice ass. That made up for it. Unexpected, the swoosh of a kunai startled Sakura, causing her to put on her makeup incorrectly. She groaned and opened the next letter.

_**Dear Haruno Sakura-san, **_

_**I do not believe that you should be trying to retaliate something that is not my fault. Pablo is simply trying to protect his territory. And Pablo is no rodent. He is a respectable blue-brindle Chihuahua. Thank you. Have a nice day.**_

_**Your neighbor, **_

_**Uchiha Itachi**_

_**P.S. You will pay for frightening Pablo. I will teach you the true meaning of "bitch."**_

* * *

><p>Hey, faithful readers! I have decided to post this little witty bit up on FF. I know, I know. I'm amazing, updating three new stories in one day. Haha, just kidding. Thanks for reading this piece of laughable crap. If you guys have time, go check my other story "Blurred" out! It's way better than this.<p>

Yet again, thanks for reading, and drop a review if you feel like it.

Peace.


	2. In Love with a Derriere

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>"Sakura! Sakura! Girl, why you so dressed up today?" Ino demanded, a grin spreading across her face.<p>

Sakura said nothing as she continued to stare at Daru's butt, the new medic, like a lovesick puppy.

Ino, however, made the wrong assumption. "It's Sasuke, isn't it? He's finally asked you out after all these years and-"

"Ino, I haven't talked to that kid in, like, a month. He's not even on my team anymore!" Sakura retorted, not taking her eyes off the sweet, sweet piece of covered flesh that was presented in front of her. "He's in ANBU, I think?"

"Um, yeah, Sakura. I swear I know more about him than you do. He's a freaking ANBU captain! I can't believe you didn't know this!"

"Well, sorry! I'm a bit distracted."

"By what?" Ino screeched, placing her hands on her hips in a forceful, demanding fashion.

Sakura pointed.

"Oh," Ino bit out. Then she looked , and her face stretched out into a toothy grin. "Ooooohhhh," she drawled out, taking a seat next to Sakura. "That is one fine piece of ass."

* * *

><p>Words: 181<p>

For everyone's information, I will updating this about once a day. The chapters will be short, but some will be longer. Thanks to all who reviewed, wow! Eleven in less than twenty four hours!

Thanks for reading, y'all!

Peace.


	3. Revenge

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>"Itachi," droned Fugaku, joining his son for some morning tea. "How have things been going at your new place?" Well, relatively new. He had been living there for eight months, after all...<p>

Itachi thought to the cat rump he had woken up to that morning.

"It has been exquisite," he lied smoothly, lips curling up in the corners while he plotted his revenge.

* * *

><p>Sakura had had a pretty pleasant day. Although she had been rudely awakened, she had a clean, bloodless workday, got to spend two hours staring at the new medic's butt; she couldn't for the life of her remember his name. Now it was four in the afternoon, and she was planning on relaxing until she saw all the dog poop spread out over her front lawn.<p>

Her jaw hit the ground.

How could a little rodent like that poop so much? Then her eyes widened in realization. That was why there had been a gathering pile of blue feces bag in Itachi's side yard. It was his retaliation for the past few days!

Oh, that man...! He was going to get a piece of her mind!

Itachi was sitting on his sofa, his blue-brindle Chihuahua napping in his lap. Pablo sighed and wiggled a little bit before settling into a more comfortable position. The peace was short lived, however. Pablo jolted up when he heard the angry fist pounding on the door. Removing Pablo from his lap gently, he made the dog a promise that he would be back shortly, although the tiny beast was already yapping at the door ferociously.

Opening the door with caution, Itachi came face to face with an angry Haruno Sakura. She was red in the face, her cheeks were blown up like a puffer fish. He had to turn away to hide his laughter. Once composed, he turned back to her, face like a statue and asked, "May I help you?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and hissed, "Oh, yeah."

Then she punched him.

* * *

><p>Words: 334<p>

Thanks to all who reviewed, alerted, faved or read! Next update: tomorrow.


	4. Of Broken Noses and Shattered Egos

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Itachi moaned when he heard someone lightly tapping the door. Rolling out of bed carefully, he headed downstairs to greet the visitor.<p>

Mikoto had woken up cheerfully this morning, deciding that she wanted to see her son. It was a whim, really, but it was a good one. After all, since Itachi was a momma's boy, it would take him a lot more effort to get used to not living at home. Sasuke had moved out the second he turned eighteen, claiming he didn't need them anymore. Well, it wasn't like he paid his own taxes, though he didn't know that. Mikoto decided it would be best if she weaned her son off of her slowly. That was why he needed a few unexpected visits from his mother.

She heard slow footsteps coming down the stairs. _Ah, there he is! _Mikoto mused cheerfully. As the door opened, she prepared a giant smile for him and-

"Oh, goodness gracious!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands. "What happened to you?"

Over his bruised and crooked nose, he had a piece of tape firmly securing it in place. His eyes were blackened due to the break, and one was drooping significantly. He had not wanted his mother to see him like this, in this dreadful state. How he could have not dodged that punch was beyond him. It was shameful.

He shrugged. "A woman," he replied.

* * *

><p>Words: 235<p>

As once said, this is a drabble. These chapters will not be very long.

Thanks to all who have reviewed, alerted, read, or faved.


	5. What Started It All

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Eight months ago...<em>**

_Itachi had finally moved the last of his boxes. Finally, he had gotten out of that god forsaken house of his father's. His father had been urging him to get married for the past eight years, and Itachi had had enough. It was time to move out. When he had told his mother this, she was crestfallen, but she supported him the whole way, especially since it meant that Pablo was leaving with him. Pablo barked happily at him, running circles around his legs. Itachi gave a low chuckle and bent down low to pat his dog on the head, caressing it gently. Pablo hopped up and put his paws just below Itachi's knees, wagging his tail wildly._

_ "Do you want to go for a walk?" The answer came in the form of Pablo freezing at the word "walk" then starting to pant joyfully, jumping up and down with vivaciousness. Itachi grabbed the slender leash, the whole thing looping in his hands four times. He had to calm Pablo so he could clip the leash on to the ring attached to his collar for Pablo was much too excited and kept trying to lick Itachi's face. Once secure, Itachi straightened his legs and went forth out the door. Less than a step out of the door, Itachi bumped into a certain pink haired medic._

_ Flustered, she yelled out, "Hi! Uh, you're my new neighbor, right?" even though she was less than two feet away._

_ Mumbling, Itachi replied, "That would be correct," before trying to swerve around this new obstacle that stood at five feet and three inches tall._

_ However, she stood in his way once more. "Um, I just wanted to say hi, y'know? Since we're going to be living next to each other and all..." Itachi winced at the loudness of her voice. He mentally willed for this woman to go away. Suddenly, he heard a faint trickling and looked down in horror._

_ Pablo had urinated on his new neighbor's shoe._

_ He saw her blanch and immediately started apologizing profusely. She waved her hand at him and said it was "okay," though he saw the obvious disgust in her face._

_ "What is your name again?" he asked, though he knew he had never heard it._

_ "Uh...Sakura. Haruno Sakura." Mentally slapping a hand to his forehead, he felt extremely dumb. This was his brother's teammate. Now he seemed insensitive and awkward because he could not recognize her._

_ "Nice to meet you. Once again, I am very sorry that Pablo did that atrocious thing on your shoe."_

_ "It's okay. Really. It's just a shoe." With that, they parted ways._

_ The night had been hot, Itachi, not wanting to waste money on air condition, had left the window open. Upon awaking, he had felt a heavy, heavy weight on his face. It felt furry...and fat. He could feel the blubber softly caressing his face. He also heard snoring. Sitting straight immediately, he attempted to remove this abomination from his face. Pablo awoke as well and started yapping at whatever it was. Itachi, however, felt claws digging in to his head. Then the object hissed and bit him. Itachi dropped his hands._

_ Then he carried on his task again with renewed fervor. A cat! A cat was on his face! He yanked at the fur, which only made the dreadful creature cling on to him even more, sharp nails imprinting in to his skin. Itachi, powerful ANBU captain, could not get a cat off his face. Finally, he managed to rip the cat off his face, and the thing squirmed in his grip, howling wildly. He marched on over to his neighbor's house and banged on the door, despite the fact that it was five in the morning, and Sakura was probably still sleeping. The medic, groggy, opened the door a few minutes later. "Can I help you?" she asked._

_ Uchiha Itachi held up her cat by the scruff of its neck. "Is this feral beast yours?" he bit out._

_ Sakura gasped. "Where'd you find him? I've been looking for him everywhere."_

_ Itachi narrowed his eyes at her. "On my face." With the turn of a heel, he began to return to his own home._

_ "Thank you!" Sakura called out. Itachi turned around, face pinched up in anger._

_ "You best control your animal next time."_

_ That did it. That made Sakura snap._

_ "Well, you keep your rodent from peeing on people, you hear?" she shouted. Itachi opened his mouth and began to degrade her pet, and then she his pet and they stood their arguing for fifteen minutes before they simultaneously bellowed, "Good day!" after waking up half the neighborhood._

_ This was war. _

* * *

><p>Words: 780<p>

Thanks to all who have reviewed, alerted, read, or faved!

Next chapter: tomorrow.


	6. Kind of a Confrontation

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Mikoto stomped over to Haruno Sakura's house, prepared to give her the scolding of a lifetime. Knocking on the door politely, though she was quite furious on the inside, she awaited for Sakura to open the door. Eventually, a woman with a toned, lean body and flashy pink hair opened the door. Viridian eyes bright and innocent, she asked sweetly, "Can I help you?"<p>

"So you are the ever so infamous Haruno Sakura who did that number on my son." Mikoto stood there, poised and elegant. Her back was straight, her chin was jutted in the air ever so slightly. This gave the appearance of a powerful woman, and Mikoto knew this usually intimidated people. However, Sakura scowled at her.

"Oh, you're the mother of two bastards, huh? Well, you tell your son he deserved that punching. I was cleaning up poop for five hours!"

Mikoto seemed to be horrified. "Excuse me?"

"Your SON scattered the little rat's poop all over MY yard!" Mikoto seemed to contemplate this for a while, but she simply frowned at the end.

"My son would never be so immature. I don't believe you," she stated firmly. Sakura rolled her eyes at the woman.

"Seems like you don't know your son very well." Then she slammed the door in Mikoto's face, leaving her stupefied in shock, jaw hitting the ground.

* * *

><p>Words: 225<p>

Thanks for all the reviews alerts, faves and reads.

Next update: tomorrow.


	7. A Burden

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Upon entering her house, Sakura searched for her lovable little kitty. Meowing, hoping that he would return her call, he did. She followed her ears and found him perched upon the fridge.<p>

She tried to coax him down with outstretched arms. "Come here, Omoni!"

Omoni narrowed his eyes at her, and his tail twitched. Omoni was over fifteen pound overweight. One spot of black that looked like it had been thrown on with a splotch of paint. He sported other various spots of black on his body, fat rolls overflowing. She made kissy noises at him. "Come down, baby."

Baring his fangs and hairs raising, Omoni took a breath and hissed at her.

* * *

><p>Itachi, in all honesty, enjoyed seeing his mother mad. It pleased him to know that there was someone out there that could crack through the hard shell of Uchiha matriarch. It was a hard feat to accomplish, since usually it was Mikoto making others mad. So when Uchiha Mikoto walked through the door fuming, he nearly applauded Haruno Sakura. His mother sat down gracefully across from him at the kitchen table.<p>

"You should move out," she enunciated. "Come back to the compound. I wouldn't have approved this if I had known you were going to live next to a punk?"

A what? "Could you repeat that please?"

His mother rolled her eyes. "A punk! That girl is really well toned, has a tattoo right above her bottom like one of those promiscuous girls at the civilian high schools, and her hair is dyed pink. "

Itachi tried to quirk a brow but found it hurt to do so. Who knew that he scrunched his nose up when he did that? "Haruno-san is Sasuke's ex-teammate. Her hair is natural."

Her mother didn't believe him and continued to blab away about the pink-haired girl who infuriated her so much who had hurt her baby boy and was so disrespectful.

However, all Itachi thought about was about the tattoo above her butt cheeks and if it was a sexy one or not.

* * *

><p>Words: 342<p>

Thanks for reading, alerting, faving, or reviewing!

Next update: Monday.


	8. Charitable

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Later that day, when his mother had <strong>finally <strong>returned home, Itachi's nose had started bleeding. It was a rather uncomfortable situation, one that occurred often as a child. Whenever something irritated his sensitive nose, he got a nose bleed. Of course as an adult it happened less often, but it was still terrible whenever he got one.

Suddenly, yet another person was knocking at the door. Still pinching the bridge of his nose, Itachi went to answer it.

A dark, rich voice said, "Hello, little cousin."

Itachi mentally winced. "Good afternoon, Shisui."

The tall, curly haired man casually let himself in, Itachi not offering, and sat himself down at the kitchen table. He then looked up at Itachi and asked, "May I have your garbage?"

"What on earth for?"

"If we sell our garbage, **our garbage**, baby cousin, we would be rich forever. I think it is a good idea."

Thinking back to a time when he got blood all over the place and had to clean it up with towels, he thought of the academy girl who had sold his garbage. Four months ago, to be exact. He had gotten home from an ANBU mission after taking a knife to the gut, though he knew he'd be fine and just went home and cleaned himself up. The whole neighborhood had known since everyone had been playing outside with their children, and someone had to help Itachi get in his house and clean his wounds. He was so delirious that he didn't remember who. For some reason, that person had asked for his garbage, saying his little sister wanted it for a school project. Itachi didn't find it remotely strange at the time and was feeling rather charitable so he said 'yes.' It might have also been due to the fact that he was feeling rather high from all the pain meds he had taken.

The next day, he had found said little girl making a profit off of his tissues, selling them to rabid fan girls.

He had eventually confronted her. As a result, she gave him half of the money. It paid his rent for the next year.

Itachi felt kind of cheap.

"Why do you want to sell our garbage?" he inquired smoothly, closing his eyes slowly.

"I need the money right now. I haven't been on too many missions lately, and the baby's coming soon." Shisui's wife was in her thirty-eighth week of pregnancy. Shisui had deigned to stay at home for the last month just in case the baby came a little early.

Yes, Shisui and Itachi both had fan girls, though Sasuke had more than them both put together. It was probably because he was single and actually talked. Shisui and Itachi were not, respectively. Shisui was better looking than both Sasuke and Itachi, though. He had thick, curly locks that were kept neat and short. As Naruto-kun would say, "Chicks dig that." Besides that, he was taller than the average Asian man, almost a whole six feet.

Finally, Itachi resigned himself. "All right," he mumbled, getting his garbage out. "Who's selling it?"

"That girl from the Academy who sold your garbage before. Don't remember her name. Would make a great salesman though." Itachi handed him the waste basket, and Shisui whistled.

"Blood? What a treat! We'll have to charge extra for that."

* * *

><p>Words: 559<p>

Thanks for all the reads, reviews (we've reached 101!), alerts, and faves! Keep it comin', guys! Some days, I get 1k+ hits on my stories! It really strokes my ego. Haha.

Anyway...

**_ANNOUNCEMENT: I want to try something new. I will be illustrating one chapter of this every week in a sort of comic book style, except the style will be changed every single time. I will be posting them on my deviantArt page! wootswootswoots. So if I get enough comments or such on them, I will post a chapter every week. This is just an experiment. If you guys have any requests, put them in a review or PM! I will do the one with the most requests for it. THIS WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH THE STORY ITSELF. POSTING TIMES WILL BE REGULAR (ONCE A DAY MON.-FRI.)._**

Next update: Tomorrow.

Peace, y'all.


	9. All is Revealed

**_ANNOUNCEMENT: I want to try something new. I will be illustrating one chapter of this every week in a sort of comic book style, except the style will be changed every single time. I will be posting them on my deviantArt page! wootswootswoots. So if I get enough comments or such on them, I will post a chapter every week. This is just an experiment. If you guys have any requests, put them in a review or PM! I will do the one with the most requests for it. THIS WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH THE STORY ITSELF. POSTING TIMES WILL BE REGULAR (ONCE A DAY MON.-FRI.)._**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Itachi asked for time off from work today. Though, it might not have been a bad idea to go. If all the females of the town saw how hideous he was, maybe they would fall out of love with him. It was completely plausible. However, he couldn't talk. Not that he talked much, but it was just humiliating listening to himself talk. It sounded like he had an elephant jammed up his nose. Not only that, his whole face hurt. So he simply resigned himself to watering his plants outside.<p>

Unluckily, it was Haruno-san's day off as well.

She came out in a black camisole and a pair of gray yoga leggings. Her hair was down, and it was the first time that he realized how long it had gotten. Apparently, according to Sasuke, she had cropped it near her head just two years ago. Now it was mid-back.

As was Itachi's.

It wasn't fair, he mused, that he had been growing his out for his whole life, and she had only been doing it for two years, AND it was slightly longer than his.

Finally, Haruno noticed the spray of water and turned to him. She cringed.

Then she laughed.

Itachi tried to narrow his eyes at her but found it hurt to do so. He resigned to speaking to her.

"What is so funny?" he asked smoothly, not realizing he was saying it through his teeth. Sakura waved her hand at him and scoffed.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" That did it. Itachi was, for lack of politer words, pissed.

He turned his water hose.

Sakura screamed.

Sakura stood in her shower, peeved. He had made her sopping wet! She had just taken a shower, and now, he dirtied her up again.

Of course, she missed the little blush that occurred when he found out that water would make her clothing cling to her body in a way he hadn't known was possible. Itachi was quite innocent, after all. He didn't really **want** to have much luck with women.

He had also caught her tramp stamp. It was of a butterfly, with various black patterns surrounding it. It was decidedly sexy.

While scrubbing and washing herself, Sakura thought of a devious plan for retribution.

Oh, yes, a devious plan indeed...

* * *

><p>Words: 384<p>

Next update: Tomorrow.

**_ANNOUNCEMENT: I want to try something new. I will be illustrating one chapter of this every week in a sort of comic book style, except the style will be changed every single time. I will be posting them on my deviantArt page! wootswootswoots. So if I get enough comments or such on them, I will post a chapter every week. This is just an experiment. If you guys have any requests, put them in a review or PM! I will do the one with the most requests for it. THIS WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH THE STORY ITSELF. POSTING TIMES WILL BE REGULAR (ONCE A DAY MON.-FRI.)._**

Peace, y'all.


	10. Whoa there

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>When Itachi woke up, he felt light-headed.<p>

No, seriously. His head felt light. It was usually heavy due to exhaustion in the morning, and Itachi saw this lightening of his head as a good sign. It meant the beast had not come to ail him the previous night and that he had gotten a good night's sleep. He scratched the back of his head, something itching him constantly there.

And he realized something was missing.

He rushed to the bathroom at once and scrutinized himself.

Dear Lord, where was his hair?

His hair had been messily hacked off, some long locks remaining. However, the majority of his precious hair was gone.

Itachi almost threw a tantrum. He knew only one person could have done this.

Haruno Sakura.

He would not let this beat him! He braced himself against the counter, hunched over, and sighed. Calm...calm... Haruno-san wanted him to be angry, so he needed to the exact opposite.

Then Itachi searched his brain. He couldn't remember the reason why he had wanted long hair in the first place.

With that final thought in mind, he put on some clothes, grabbed his wallet, and headed to the nearest barbershop.

* * *

><p>I like this one. :) personal favorite.<p>

Thanks for all the review and stuff!

Next chapter: tomorrow.

*And for all who are wondering what my dA account is, it's simple. Listen carefully. It's...it's...

missmocha77.

Yes, I know. I'm really creative. I haven't put anything up yet, but I will soon.


	11. Bad Idea

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>After walking out of the barbershop, people stared at him. It made him rather uncomfortable. People didn't recognize him, that much he knew, but did he really look that much better without his long hair. He had to admit that his head felt freer, and his hair didn't constantly get in his eyes. In fact, it was rather short, and as he ran his hand over it, it prickled him.<p>

Girls were drooling.

Goddammit!

Haruno Sakura wanted him to suffer. Before when he had long hair, he could hide his face and slip into the shadows of room, like the proper ninja he was. He seemed unapproachable. But! When his face was clear, people could see his kindness and approached him.

He only wished he knew what to talk about.

* * *

><p>Words: 130<p>

Thanks for reading, or reviewing and such...

Peace, y'all. Next update: tomorrow.


	12. Unswayed

Dislclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

Very short, but also very sweet. ;) Yes, I did make up a word for the chapter title.

* * *

><p>As Sakura prepared to go to work, she saw Itachi arrive at his house. She smirked at his head. Her revenge had gone as planned, he was surely miserable; too bad he looked so good in that new haircut.<p>

Smug, she called out, "Hello, Uchiha-san!" He turned to her.

And he gave her the most brilliant smile she had ever seen in her life. "Hello, Sakura-san," he replied warmly. She was hyperaware of the things that happened next. Her knees buckled, her breathing became shallower, and her heart was beating so fast she thought it would explode. He had never smiled at her like that.

Once inside his house, Itachi let out laughter that he would never show to anyone else. His plan had worked perfectly. She had gaped at him so dumbly, she knew her plan didn't work (although it did), and all was well. He forced himself not to notice her cheeks that were flushed with attraction, and he convinced himself that the twisting and longing in his heart meant nothing.

* * *

><p>Words: 173<p>

Thanks to all who read, review, alert, or fave! Means a lot guys! You have the hard job. ;)

Oh, and if anyone is curious, I finally posted that one illustrated chapter! If you are interested, look it up and comment!

Here is the link: http:/ missmocha77 .deviantart. com/ art/ Your-Fat-Cat-Chapter-Ten- 209522068

Remove the spaces if you wanna see it!

Peace, y'all.


	13. Clear Differences

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>He happened upon her at the pet store the next day. She was talking animatedly to a boy with unruly blonde hair. It was Naruto, he realized. Sitting aristocratically in Naruto's palm was a bull frog, croaking every now and then. In his other hand, he was carrying a carrying a jar of crickets, and Itachi winced in disgust. He also felt a moderate fire burn through his body.<p>

He asked himself why he had to remind himself that Naruto and Sakura's relationship went nowhere beyond friends, seeing as Naruto had a girlfriend. He turned away from them and went back to his business, looking for a chew toy small enough for Pablo to enjoy and not fall over whilst carrying it. He finished that task quickly. He was so engrossed in his work that he only noticed Sakura reaching for the same product as him, a bag of toothbrushes one could slip over their finger, until the tips of his fingers touched the soft skin of her hand. Electric currents ran through his body at the contact, and he nearly blushed, quickly withdrawing his hand along with the bag of toothbrushes.

Sakura scowled. "Oh. It's you."

Itachi shook his head. "So vehement. I am allowed to come here, too."

Sakura just rolled her eyes. "Your dog probably could just eat your leftovers."

The words came out unbidden. "That is probably why your cat has gained so much weight." He almost regretted them, but seeing the angry look on her face gave him a sort of satisfaction. He paused thoughtfully for a moment but quickly continued. "May I suggest the low fat cat food in aisle three?" Itachi suggested.

Sakura hissed at him.

That left him shocked, and it was plainly shown on his face. Snatching the bag of toothbrushes out of his hand, Sakura paid for her things, and left.

* * *

><p>Words: 311<p>

Thanks for reading and such! Sorry for not updating for the longest time. Life just got to me. My next update will be... probably Friday. I'll try to get one in before then. I apologize, once again.

Oh, oh, oh! Also, I have started a new forum. It's completely for advertising stories of the Naruto fandom. If you have a story you would like to advertise, here it is:

.net/forum/Stories_Welcome/92057/

If you feel like it, check it out!

Anyway, until next time!


	14. Take Me to Him

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

Thanks for the reviews guys!

* * *

><p>Heading back to work, Sakura gnashed her teeth together. Who did he think he was, insulting Omoni like that? True...Omoni could lose some weight, but he wasn't that fat. Then again, Sakura was biased. She slumped into her chair after trudging into her office, indulging herself in a heady sigh. Exasperated, she flicked open the cap to her water bottle and drank greedily, not caring if she got water droplets all over her neck.<p>

Suddenly, a nurse rushed into her office, panting heavily. "Sakura-chan, we require your assistance."

"I'm still on my break-"

"Please." Sakura looked the girl in the eyes and found them anxious and worried. "It's Sasuke-san."

Sakura blanched.

"Take me to him."

* * *

><p>Words:115<p>

Thanks for reading!

Next update: MRRRRRR...I don't know. Next Friday, probably.


	15. Stirrings

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sakura rushed into the O.R. with her scrubs on, being careful not to touch anything. "What happened?" she asked, immediately slipping into her professional mode.<p>

"He's heavily injured, Haruno-san," one of the fellow medics said. "We require your assistance to stop the bleeding and close the wounds." Sakura nodded once the concocted a plan. She saw that Sasuke had multiple gashes on his chest, stomach, and almost extending to his groin, but it wasn't that bad, fortunately.

"Daru, you and I shall stop the bleeding and close up the wounds. Hagaraki and Shun, press towels onto the wounds that Daru and I aren't working on. Okay, start!"

The team worked on Sasuke for four hours, and by the end, nearly all of them were severely depleted of chakra. Sakura's pink hair stuck to her face in a rather unattractive way, and she was covered in blood, but it was the same for the rest of them so she didn't really care. She exited the O.R. and found Sasuke's parents there, Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto. Well, it was a bit awkward. Sakura had forgotten that Sasuke and Itachi must have the same mom, though it was hard to believe sometimes. They both looked so worried for him, and Mikoto had tear streaks on her face. They were both waiting expectantly for her to say something. Sakura took a deep breath.

"He's going to be okay."

The two exhaled in relief, and Mikoto started sobbing in Fugaku's arms. Sakura's lips curled upward a bit. It was nice to see a more compassionate side in the older woman. Their first encounter had been unpleasant, after all. She continued.

"He's going to have to stay here for a week. He'll still be...tender, I guess, and we'll probably have to feed him through an IV. He's probably not going to wake up for a while." Mikoto nodded with a smile and wiped away a tear, laughing. Fugaku gave her a stiff smile as well.

Sakura entered the room Sasuke was in after she got off of work -it was never really done- and she waited. Every now and then, she would peel back his eyelids and peer at his pupils -often getting strange looks from the nurses- and ate a little bit in the cafeteria with Shizune.

Finally, she curled up in the chair beside his bed quietly, quickly falling asleep. She was so exhausted that she didn't hear the door to Sasuke's room open, and she didn't feel the freshly worn coat being wrapped around her.

* * *

><p>Words: 422<p>

SCHOOL'S OUT! WHOO! And that means normal updating from now on!

To Eyes of a Black Dragon, this is why I didn't update. FINALS.

Next update: Monday!

* We got to 200 reviews! Thank you all so much! And thanks to all the readers for reading!


	16. Declaration

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sakura woke early in the morning due to the sun sizzling her eyes. She couldn't believe that no one had waken her up to go home! The next thing she noticed was the jacket draped across her chest. Judging by the size of it, it was a guy's. No, a man's. She came to that conclusion because the coat smelled unnaturally good, and no one who was young really knew how to use cologne. So it was an older guy...<p>

She grinned to herself. Maybe it was Daru. He always looked uncomfortable around her; maybe it was because he liked her. It also could be because she stared at his butt all the time, but Sakura would dwell on the positives. She highly doubted it was him though.

The coat was forgotten when the question of, "Where am I?" escaped Sasuke's lips. Sakura bolted out of her chair and stood at Sasuke's side.

"You're awake?" she asked frantically, checking his pulse.

Sasuke chuckled weakly. "I would think that was obvious.

"Hardy-har-har," Sakura deadpanned, taking a flashlight out of her pocket and shining it into Sasuke's eyes.

"Argh!" he grunted, trying to shield his eyes from the terrifying light.

"Your pupils are dilating normally so that's a good sign." She smiled at him. "I was so worried about you."

Sasuke was silent for a moment, as if thinking. Sakura really didn't expect him to answer, and that was okay with her. However, he did.

"I was afraid I wouldn't make it back," he said softly, turning his slightly. "Everything felt cold, and there was so much that I thought about it just three seconds, the things I had wanted to do but was just too chicken to do." He took the time to look into Sakura's eyes. "I was afraid that someone would take you away from me."

Sakura felt heat rising up to her face. Was he that high on pain meds? "What are you saying, Sasuke?"

He paused for a moment in a thoughtful fashion but continued. "I think I'm saying that I'm in love with you."

* * *

><p>Words: 348<p>

Next update: Tomorrow.

On a side note, I am looking for a beta for a story I'm writing. Two betas, in fact. If you're interested, PM me or leave it in a review! However, be warned that it will be OC-centric and has little to no character bashing! :D

OH! And I've gotten a fictionpress account by the name of:

missmocha77.

Yes, yes, I know I'm creative. I even have stuff up on the account now so feel free to look it up. Bye!


	17. Frustration

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>"W-what?" Sakura whispered.<p>

"I said, I think I'm-"

"No, I heard you, idiot!" Sakura snapped. "How am I supposed to react to this?" Sasuke shrugged. "Don't be so nonchalant; you just declared your love for me. Help me find a solution to this!"

Sasuke looked at her like she was crazy. Well, she kind of was, but that was besides the point. "Well, you tell me if you like me back, Sakura. That's the way it goes."

"B-but it's embarrassing to say!" she said, covering her red face with her hands.

Sasuke grinned. The way she tried to hide her feelings at times was so cute. She was always pretty free with them, but when it came to this...

"If I can do it, you can do it too, Sakura."

Sakura sniffed. "Okay. I-I love you, too?"

"Sakura, why are saying it like it's a question?"

* * *

><p>Words: 146<p>

HEY GUYS! So, yeah. I figure I'm going to get a lot of death threats right now. Be assured, there are like, ... maybe fifty more chapters till the end? And don't worry, the cat and dog thing are still going to play out, it's not going to be a love triangle completely. And unfortunately, this is going to have a plot. I was planning on it being just a pointless drabble. Well, that idea went out the window.

Next update: Tomorrow.

And check out one of my original stories: (fictionpress) .com/s/2923294/1/Identical

It's weird, but I like it...then again, I'm biased.


	18. Congrats, but Here's the Thing

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sakura walked into Tsunade's office. They were supposed to go out and have dinner together, but it looked as if she was very busy. She was fussing over files and muttering underneath her breath. Sakura knocked lightly on the door. "Hey, Shishou, still up to getting dinner?"<p>

Tsunade jolted as if she had been awoken from a trance. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said do you want to get dinner?" Her Shishou smiled.

"Maybe you should go get it with your **boyfriend**, "she teased coyly, pointing a finger at Sakura. Sakura blushed and attempted to roll her eyes.

"He's still in the hospital. Of course I can't."

"Well, that's too bad then because you're going to help me study and file these. Then we can go to dinner."

Sakura groaned dramatically and stomped over to a free chair, dragging it to her Shishou's side. "So what's up with all this? Last I checked, these were only six papers."

Tsunade scoffed. "They are seven, thank you very much, but these are very important papers. The seven most important papers in my office."

"Why?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"They're a mercenary group, going by the name of Yagura's army. Well, it used to be Yagura but now it's Madara. I don't what inspired the change."

Sakura examined all the papers. "They're all around the same age."

Tsunade nodded. "This is the group that hurt Sasuke, though it was just one of them, and they already did a pretty nice job of it."Sakura shuddered as her body went cold. Yes, they did an extremely good job of it. Cuts everywhere... "They all use double headed spears, though from what Kakashi has told me, they have a whole arsenal of weapons, and they're extremely well prepared. He told me that they had been the most efficient group of assassins he had ever seen."

"So they're really strong?"

"Not necessarily, but probably. It just means that they're good at killing and getting away with it. They only aim to kill. Even Sasuke and Kakashi failed at protecting the man they were assigned to. He was killed."

Sakura shuddered once more. How terrifying. Such groups existed?

"The strange thing was that Kakashi told me that the kid, yeah, a kid, was aiming directly toward Sasuke, and our client just got in the way... it unnerves me a bit."Yeah, no kidding, Sakura thought flatly.

* * *

><p>PLOT! ish. Thanks for all the review, reads, etc.<p>

Next update: tomorrow.


	19. Surprising Hatred

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

><p>Itachi had felt an almost insurmountable amount of jealousy when he saw Sasuke sleeping the night away. Haruno hadn't known he was there either. There she was, tending to Sasuke with all the care in the world, and his little brother had ignored her for all this time. It was despicable. The rise in a feeling of hatred surprised Itachi. He had never felt this way about his brother before. He was even injured! He had to remind himself that he was here to visit Sasuke, not Sakura.<p>

He noticed that Haruno gave a shiver in her sleep. It was quite cold that night after all. Without thinking twice, Itachi draped his coat over her and reveled in the fact that it was HIS coat she was wearing. Not wanting to explore these newly risen feelings of jealousy and satisfaction, he left the dim room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

* * *

><p>Words: 151<p>

Next update: tomorrow

Thanks for reading and such!

Kind of ItaSaku...ish?


	20. Oh No!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

><p>Tsunade and Sakura continued their work over dinner. They had figured out that the group had been functioning since they were all very young. The youngest had been five or six years old when it started.<p>

"One girl and five boys for sure. That one, I can't tell..."

"It doesn't matter for now!" Sakura emphasized. "It hurts either way if you kick them in the crotch."

"True, true. Sakura, look! Her hair's so pretty! I wish mine was like that!"

"Shishou, you wonder why you can't get any of your paperwork done?"

* * *

><p>Words: 92 YEAH THIS CHAPTER IS ONLY 92 WORDS LONG! GET AT ME!<p>

Sorry for the lateish update As in late in the DAy!

Anyway. I think this is the shortest chapter I've ever written! Thanks for all the reviews and such!

Next update: tomorrow! hahaha.


	21. SOAR

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

><p>The little rat's yapping kept her awake the whole night. Just when she was about to fall back asleep, he would start barking again each time. Sakura wondered if Itachi had trained the thing to do that. She wasn't sure how it would be possible, but she was sure he did. No matter. She could just think of Sasuke the whole night.<p>

Anyway, how did he sleep with all that barking? He was in ANBU, little sounds were supposed to wake him quickly. However, even when she had sneaked into his bedroom to cut his hair off, he hadn't woken up. He had been snoring. Sakura had almost laughed out loud. It was hysterical. It was also kind of cute. She guessed that when Itachi slept, he really slept.

The next morning, Sakura had opened her window and was not overjoyed to find Itachi doing the same thing. "Hello, Uchiha-san." He stiffly nodded to her.

"Haruno," he greeted.

"You know," she began. "You dog was barking the whole night, and it was annoying, but I'm going to let it go this time. Nothing can ruin my mood today."

"Why is that?" he asked flatly.

Sakura just shook her head and smiled. "Your little brother can tell you himself, once he's out of the hospital."

She walked away, leaving Itachi confused and looking at where she had once been standing.

* * *

><p>Thanks for all the reviews, etc.! Keep up the good work!<p>

Next update: monday.

Oh, and I have a new story up. The pairing is Sasuke vs. OC...wait a minute. that's not a pairing! Read it if you'd like. :)


	22. OHH! SWOON

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sasuke had finally gotten out of the hospital. Well, not finally. It had only been two days. Sakura escorted him out in a wheel chair, as was standard procedure. In her mind, she kept seeing his body- no, not in that way, you sick pervert!- all scarred and torn up. His overly pale face, his innards visible from the outside of his body. No, that was just cruel.<p>

Sasuke noticed Sakura as she was very deep in thought. "What are you thinking about?" he asked softly, yet in a demanding tone.

"Oh! Uh-nothing," the flustered medic stammered, running a hand through her pink hair. "Just spacing out."

"You should pay attention to where you're going, Sakura. You could get hurt."

Sakura nearly swooned at that statement. He was so caring. They had reached the exit, and Sasuke stood from his chair.

Sakura was surprised when he leaned over and pecked her on the lips. His lips were so soft!

When he saw her startled expression, he was immediately concerned. "Oh. Sorry. Was that too soon?"

Sakura shook her head and grinned. "I'd say you're about ten years overdue," she giggled as she brought him down for another kiss.

* * *

><p>Words: 198<p>

I'm spoiling y'all.

Next update: tomorrow.


	23. Finally! Just kidding, I wanna kill you

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

><p>When Itachi entered Shisui's home in the Uchiha district, Shisui's wife Haruna and his former teammate immediately shoved a bawling baby in his arms. He spotted Shisui napping on the couch, snoring loudly with his mouth wide open. "Here!" she snapped. "Make yourself useful. Abuelita! Ven aqui! Watch Enho!" He heard the fan in the kitchen exhausting air wildly and the sizzling of oil in pans.<p>

Itachi stared at the three week old infant in his arms; it had quieted significantly and was simply staring at him. Haruna's grandmother came up waddling to him. "Oh, Itachi. El bebe le gustas."

"Haruna, what is your grandmother saying?"

"The baby likes you," called back the busy woman. All of a sudden, her three year old son, covered with mud, came rushing into the room with something alive in his arms, giggling madly. Pinching something stringy in his index and thumb, he lowered it closer and closer to his father's mouth, an evil light in his eyes. When he realized it was a giant centipede, Itachi gasped loudly.

Haruna, knowing what this was, came into the room, stomping vigorously. She grabbed her son's wrist and pulled it away from Shisui's face, immediately scolding the boy. "No, Enho! We've talked about this! You can't put things into Daddy's mouth, entiendes?"

The baby started crying loudly again, and Itachi cringed when he saw that Haruna had nearly failed. The centipede was crawling around Shisui's face, so close to Shisui's parted lips. He couldn't bring himself to touch it though. Haruna's grandmother just clucked her tongue at him and walked in tiny steps over to Shisui and picked the long bug up with bony fingers. "No backbone, this one." She promptly went to dispose of the bug, and Itachi let out a sigh of relief as he readjusted his hold on the baby.

It was Shisui Sunday, meaning Itachi would go over to their house and eat a meal there as quickly as possible, then leave. He did not like staying there too long. Though he loved them both, Haruna was bossy, and Shisui was annoying, and he could not take either of them in large doses.

Shisui eventually awoke from his slumber with a gigantic yawn and just barely noticed Itachi standing in the doorway. "Oh," he sighed. "I had the most peculiar dream. There were all these objects crawling on my face."

"Oh," replied Itachi, patting the baby's back.

The two men chatted through their normal grunts and one word answers. Eventually, Itachi passed the infant to Shisui's arms, and the most surprising thing happened.

Sasuke burst through the door. Well, he didn't burst through, he just walked through, but it was the equivalent of bursting through. He had not been in the district since six months ago, since he turned eighteen.

Well, this was the perfect time to ask him what Sakura had meant earlier that week. "Sasuke-" he started, but he was interrupted by his overenthusiastic cousin.

"Well, Sasuke-chan. How'd it go?"

Sasuke let a generic smirk play on his lips. "She said yes."

"Finally." Shisui stood up and slapped his cousin roughly on the back, equal to a hug between females. "Good job, man. I'm proud of you. It's about time, too. " Itachi, getting immensely confused with this interaction, decided to pipe up.

"What is he proud of you for?" he asked quietly.

"You didn't know?" Sasuke laughed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I asked Sakura out; she said yes."

At that moment, Itachi felt an angry, burning fire start in his chest, and it refused to go away.

* * *

><p>Words: 600<p>

Sorry for the late update! -.- life got in the way.

Next update: tomorrow.


	24. Confrontation, Omoni vs Pablo

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Itachi awoke once more to the furry belly of the despicable feline, Omoni. The cat mewled, half a growl, half a meow.<p>

"You are a burden," he said, though he was muffled by the obese object on top of his face. He sat up straight in bed and waited for the cat to retract its claws and release its grip on his head. The man exhaled heavily, seeing as the cat was quite comfortable where he was and had no intention of letting go soon.

Pablito, having been awoken by Itachi's sigh, began to bark ferociously at the offending creature, not wanting it to hurt his precious master. The grumpy cat began to meow lowly, a sign of attack, usually. Itachi would know. This was why he didn't like cats.

They were grumpy, they attacked you, they didn't really like you, much too much like his family, thinking they were better than everybody else, incapable of love. Thus, he enjoyed Pablo's company. The dog was loving and sweet, giving his hand ticklish licks and offering Itachi his stomach to rub. Dogs were loyal.

Cats, however, were sneaky vile creatures, and one could never be sure what they would do next.

* * *

><p>Words: 200<p>

Next Update: tomorrow

I PROMISE- yet again- that this will somehow turn into an ItaSaku. The authoress has tricks up her sleeve. ;)


	25. OOH! Words Cannot Describe My Anger

Sasuke picked her up at seven on Friday. Sakura was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She had gotten ready an hour ago, and she had to will her feet to stop pacing frantically, so she resorted to sitting by the door, clutching the folds of her dress nervously. A couple of times, she had grabbed Omoni roughly by the neck and started petting him strangely, as if she were trying to flatten him out. This drew out a hiss from the offended, but Sakura made no move to stop herself.

The doorbell rang, and Sakura snatched Omoni up from her lap, the cat meowing angrily. She opened the door excitedly. Sasuke smiled down at her, then his smile became frozen when he saw the fat thing squirming in her arms.

"Hey!" Sakura said breathlessly. She noticed his stare. "Oh, do you not like cats?"

"No, I like them," Sasuke choked out, his smile becoming...peculiar.

Sakura simply shrugged it off. "Let's go!" she exclaimed, linking her arm with his.

* * *

><p>She nearly gagged.<p>

Had he seriously brought her to Ichiraku? Seriously? He thought this was a suitable place for a romantic date?

Naruto was there.

Sakura groaned. He had probably invited himself, just to make sure that Sasuke didn't pull anything. Why couldn't he spend some time with his own girlfriend? God knew that he didn't spend enough time with her. Sakura wondered how Hinata could handle it.

_All right,_ she thought. _Let's get this over with_.

* * *

><p>Words: 247<p>

Next Update: Monday

I need to work on my other stories, sorry!

Anyway, question of the day. I've noticed depression rates pretty much skyrocketing. So on a scale of 1(best) to 10 (worst), how depressed are you?


	26. Disaster in the Making

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sakura couldn't help but feel disappointed at the end of the date. Every time she and Sasuke had attempted to start up a conversation, Naruto had butted in, quite rudely, as a matter of fact. He would start by talking to Sasuke, threatening him. Most of the threats consisted of "If you ever hurt my Sakura-chan, I'll castrate you, I'll beat you up, I'll make you wish you were never born...etcetera, etcetera." Then he would turn to Sakura and ask her if the bastard had done anything dishonorable to her. Sakura was heavily annoyed, as was Sasuke.<p>

Also, the smell of the place! Now, the owner of the place was a kind man, and he made absolutely delicious ramen, but there was only so much one could take before it was sickening. Four years of it had made her disgusted by the very aroma of it.

When the two had finally gotten tired of Naruto's antics, Sasuke asked her if she wanted him to walk her home. She quickly jumped at the opportunity and said:

"YES!"

That had earned her a few funny looks, but she didn't care. She just wanted to go home to her precious kitty and gently stroke his fur; she knew that would comfort her.

She and Sasuke had walked home in a relatively comfortable silence, with a few conversations here and there. At the end, they had both just started complaining about Naruto, the stinky little fellow.

"I can't believe he did that," Sakura moaned. "I mean-I should have expected it, but I didn't think he would go that far."

"Hm," Sasuke grunted, nodding his head. "Of course the loser would do something like that. I told him not to bother us, but as usual, he just cannot listen."

"I know! Why can't he just follow directions for once-"

And her toe hit her doorstep, and Sakura cried out in fury. "URGH! Why isn't anything going right today?" She immediately regretted her words when she saw a twinge of pain flash on Sasuke's face. She sighed heavily. "Sasuke, don't worry. It's not your fault. Some communication between us probably would have been better." She took his hands. "All things aside, I had a great time with you tonight. Kind of." She stretched up to meet his lips, and his arms encircled her waist gently.

Slowly, her eyes closed in contentment. Although Sasuke wasn't the best kisser, it felt like the best just because it was with him. Just as the kiss was about to deepen, Sakura's eyes fluttered open for a moment.

And she saw someone staring at them.

Her face immediately turned into a furious red, and she pointed her finger at her neighbor, shocking Sasuke.

"You voyeuristic PERVERT!"

Itachi chuckled. "That is not a word, Haruno-san."

* * *

><p>Words: 469<p>

Next Update: Monday, I promise!

Sorry for updating so late. I've been practicing driving and it really gets to me. I literally shit in my pants. And it's nice to see so many positive people out there, with the expection of Rinnen. :(

Anyway, question of the day. Do you feel that religious people hate gays?


	27. Surprise

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

><p>"Nii-san, you live here?" Sasuke asked skeptically.<p>

Itachi sighed. So typical of his little brother. Not caring enough to even find out where his beloved brother lived.

"Yes, Sasuke. I live here. I have for the past eight months."

Sakura, fuming at being ignored, walked up to Itachi and jabbed his chest with her index finger. Continuously. "Why did you interrupt such a perfect moment, huh? Are you that heartless?"

Itachi eventually became unable to understand her squeaking. He just nodded his head a few times and made a few noncommittal hums.

Sasuke, bewildered by all this, tried to get the two to stop "arguing" twice, or rather, calm Sakura down. Finally, he just gave a hearty sigh, crossed his arms, and waited for Sakura to stop screaming.

* * *

><p>Words:128<p>

Question of the day: How high can you sing? (specific notes)

Thanks for all your opinions on the last one!


	28. Unhealthy Anger Management

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sakura stormed into her house, not paying any attention to poor Sasuke. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but he snapped it shut right away. He turned to his brother, who was watering his plants at nine at night.<p>

"Nii-san, what did you do to her?" he asked incredulously. Itachi stopped his activity and started to reel the hose back in to its box. It was a while before he answered.

"Pablo urinated on her shoes." Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Really? It's quite hard to get her mad. You would have to directly attack her for that." Sasuke paused. "You know, even you seem mad. Why is that? I have never seen your face that ugly before."

Itachi scoffed at his younger brother's teasing and headed to his own abode as well. He was rudely interrupted by Sasuke's voice cutting through the air.

"Hey, can I come in?"

The elder Uchiha sighed. "Fine," he gritted out, closing his eyes and massaging his temples. "Take your shoes off, please!" He paused. "I just waxed the floor this morning."

* * *

><p>Words: 179<p>

Next update: Errr...yeah. Let's talk about that. This story and all my others are officially on hiatus for about two weeks, maybe more. I have to finish my other sucky ItaSaku story. Please don't read it. It just needs to be done. If you have read it, you would see the clear difference between the writing style I have now, and the writing style I had even just a year ago. It's atrocious, but I'm not going to go fix it. I figure it's a good reminder for myself to see the imperfections in that story, and it keeps my ego down a little bit to get a bad review every once in a while. xD

Originally, I was going to make this story first, but I'm glad I didn't. The other story was my "practice" fanfiction, just to see if I can actually write or not. So all of you who think I'm so great at writing, I'm actually not right now. I'm still improving.

That leads me to my next point. I'd love some constructive criticism. It could be a complete flame, I don't care. I just want you to point out any mistakes I have made (besides the "have a growl, have a meow" thing. I am currently working on fixing that. xD) If you just hate a certain part of the story, tell me! I won't make any promises to change anything since I already have planned the whole thing out already, but I am basically looking for an emotional response to this. If you guys could provide me with some of this, it would be great!


	29. Discord

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>A figure with red eyes scrutinized the room. His seven children, standing straight in a perfect line, were awaiting his orders.<p>

"Tamao, you failed to place the seal on the Uchiha." Tamao bowed his head in shame. "Lift your head. I am not angry with you. We will just have to send someone who is more likely to succeed in this game."

He eyed the room once more. "Yano?" The figure shook his head. "Never mind."

He saw his precious daughter, looking as serious as ever. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

"Torino!" he snapped. She immediately focused all her attention on her father. "It is your time to play in this game..."

* * *

><p>Words: 114<p>

Next Update: Aug. 14

Hey. I'm sorry it's taking me so long to finish my other story, but I'm almost done! I know I said I wouldn't update, but this just eased my writer's block a bit. Anyway, I'm sixteen now. WHOO. Time to study for ACTs.

Later.


	30. I'm Right!

Sakura skimmed quickly, flipping through the pages as fast as she could. Once she found the correct page, she traced the page with her finger and immediately grinned when she found the word. He had made a mistake. He had been wrong! She would never let up on him about this. Mischievous thoughts fill her head.

"Ha! Voyeuristic is a word! That little brat." A sense of pride overflowed within her. She had finally been right! She would be sure to gloat in his face when she saw him tomorrow. Well, he usually got up at eight and came out to water his plants at eight thirty... She stopped her thoughts immediately.

Why the hell did she know his schedule?

It was disturbing...no one should know that much about their neighbor...it was against neighborhood rules. It just shouldn't be allowed. With a shake of her head, she headed to her printer, scanned the page of the dictionary, and printed it out. She scribbled a note on the back of the sheet.

Tying it to a kunai, she threw it through Itachi's window.

* * *

><p>Words: 182<p>

So I know I said I'd update Monday, but I figured that I might as well.

Next update:?

So I was wondering if any of you are good at drawing backgrounds or know anybody good at drawing backgrounds. My friend and I are going to make a manga, and both of us are not the greatest at if you are, PM me, leave it in a review, or just plain let me know! It'd be very helpful, thanks!

Peace, y'all.


	31. Crack

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sakura and Sasuke lied on the grass side by side. Their fingers were interlaced, and a healthy flush warmed Sakura's cheeks.<p>

"I could just lie here forever."

Sasuke nodded. Then he asked her a question. "If you were to become my wife someday, what would you do?"

Sakura was a bit surprised at the question, especially since it was so soon into their relationship (one month to be exact), but she answered quite truthfully.

"I'd plan to live like this. A simple life working at the hospital, going on the occasional field mission. Maybe have some children." Definitely have some children, she corrected herself. "Then I would work at the hospital part-time and take care of the kids."

Sasuke seemed to be deep in thought. Sakura studied his face carefully, wondering what he was pondering. Finally he spoke.

"The Uchiha clan has a tradition of having an elegant, graceful woman for a wife who will stay home and entertain guests if needed." He paused, weighing the words carefully. However, he did not weight them carefully enough. "That is what I need as the second son of the Uchiha Patriarch."

Sakura sat straight up. "What?" she screeched.

"Sakura, don't take this the wrong way-"

"Sasuke, you want me to be a good, little submissive wife!"

"I never said that-"

"Not outright!" Sakura, shaking in fury, looked as if she might explode with words. Instead, she closed her eyes and let out an angry sigh. "I need some space right now." She threw her hands up in defeat. "I'm going home."

"But we were going to go see a movie!"

"Go with somebody else!" she snapped. She turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Sasuke gaping.

* * *

><p>Words: 285<p>

Next update: I don't know.

Sorry for taking so long guys. I'm, like, two pages away from being done with My Friend, so be patient. By next week, Monday, this should be having regular updates. ;) Things are going to get juicier from here on out.

Oh, and you should also check out (which is a euphemism for Watch ME!) my accounts on DeviantArt. They are called missmocha77 and GigiAniProductions. Soon, GigiAniProductions is going to have a manga my friend and I are cowriting. I know, you're probably thinking. "What's this girl doing, not updating and making herself more busy?" I know, I know. But I swear once marching band is over, I will have loads more free time to update. ;) But seriously, keeping busy helps me not think about how much I hate this one guy I love...

Question of the Day: Have you ever fallen in love? What was it like?


	32. Advice

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Despite his thick-skulled head, Naruto knew a thing or two about women. This meant that he knew two more things than Sasuke did.<p>

"You fucked up," he commented lightly, stuffing his ramen in his mouth.

"I don't understand how, though! What did I say?"Sasuke was clearly confused and frustrated. Why were women so hard to learn?

"Sakura is what we like to call, 'an independent woman.' You are what we like to call a 'baby.' There's a huge difference in maturity here."

"Naruto, why am I called a baby? And who is we?"

Naruto ignored the last question. "Sakura is much more independent as an adult than you will ever be."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto. "I resent that statement."

"Dude, you don't even pay your own taxes. I have the right to say it."

* * *

><p>Sakura was angry. She stomped all the way home. How could he even ask that of her? Why the hell was marriage even coming up this early into their relationship? It had only been a month!<p>

She thought for a moment. After all, it had only been a question. And it had the word "if" in it. Maybe it was an overreaction on her part. That didn't mean it didn't piss her off.

Before she knew it, she was back at her home.

And the other one was out.

He was in his ANBU gear, and he seemed extremely exhausted. The bags beneath his eyes had darkened considerably, and his vest was ordained with just a splatter of blood. She saw crimson running down his leg and, without thinking, automatically screamed, "You're HURT!"

Itachi stared blankly at her before scanning his body for injuries. He looked back up to her and said in a quite spacey way, "I am, aren't I?" He continued to stare at her for an awkward period of time before she broke the silence.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"What?"

"I said-" Sakura stopped and shook her head. "You're really out of it."

"Indeed." Awkward silence ensued. Finally, Sakura cleared her throat.

"Would you like me to take care of that for you?" Itachi looked down to his leg. The blood was all over his shoe.

He nodded. "That would be great, thanks."

Then Sakura let him into her home. Her heart nearly stopped when she realized what she did. She had let the bastard into her house! She turned around, about to yell at him, but then she got a good look at him. He was dirty and exhausted. Grime covered his face, he was sweaty, and he was injured.

She could be nice just this one time.

* * *

><p>Words: 440<p>

Next update: Monday

WHOOHOO BACK TO REGULAR UPDATING. My friend is finally over, thank God, and I have time to work on all my other stories. So, guys. I realize now that this story is probably going to be way over fifty chapters. My bad.


	33. Care

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Motioning to a chair, Sakura demanded, "Sit down and put your foot up. It should stop the bleeding." Itachi did as he was told while Sakura rummaged around through her pantries. "Where is that goddamn first aid kit?" she hissed under her breath. After going through six containers, she finally found a first aid kit that had sufficient supplies. "I need to refill this," she grumbled. Itachi paid her no mind and continued to stare into space.<p>

Sakura sighed as she saw his unresponsive face. This was quite a change; he was being complacent. It was sort of nice, and it was kind of creepy at the same time. She pulled a chair out for herself. "All right, Uchiha-san. Let's see your wound. Pull up your pant leg." He reached for it, but Sakura was impatient and did it herself. It was an angry red near the wound. Fresh. "So, this was done approximately thirty minutes ago...was it near our gates?" she asked, pulling out disinfecting wipes and gloves.

Itachi tipped his head in a curt nod once. "They attacked Shisui and me-"

"Shisui and I," Sakura corrected. The Uchiha boy sighed.

"Indeed. They attacked us, and Shisui's not doing very well right now, to be honest. He had to go to the Emergency Room."

"That's awful," Sakura commented with sincerity. "I hope he's okay."

"He'll live," the infuriating man deadpanned.

The fiesty medic rolled her eyes. "How caring of you."

* * *

><p>Words: 241<p>

Next update: Monday, sorry! It'll be a full length chapter this time!

Sorry for taking so long!

Question of the day: Have you ever had a crush on someone of the same sex? (I'll admit it; I have had a friend crush or two, but nothing really major. Still, a crush is a crush!)


	34. Midnight Visits

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>As Sakura continued to treat Itachi, he rested his eyes for a moment. The working medic noted the prominent circles underneath his eyes and decided to show some compassion. She let him sleep. Brandishing his wound with medicinal ointment, she finished it up with a touch of healing chakra and with a fresh bandage.<p>

"Itachi," she whispered sharply, hoping to shock the man out of his slumber. Instead, the stupid guy woke up calmly, eyes opening slowly. "I'm done."

He nodded, swinging his leg off the chair. "Thank you, Sakura-san. It was much appreciated."

Hearing his sincere gratitude, Sakura became a little meek and bit her lower lip. "You...you're welcome."

He gave her a small smile, one that wouldn't have been noticed before. However, with the lack of hair hiding his face, it revealed itself, bright as the sun.

Sakura had to catch her breath.

The injured man walked to the door and exited the house.

* * *

><p>Once out of the dreadful house, Itachi picked up his pace and reached the inside of his home within five seconds. Upon slamming the door shut, he let out a puff of air and allowed his face to redden. God, the way she was biting her lip! He couldn't get it out of his mind. Did she know how alluring it looked or was she completely oblivious to it?<p>

It was so...nice of her to take care of his wound for him. It was uncharacteristic. They were supposed to be the feuding neighbors, like the Capulets and the Montague.

Pablo came running up to him placed the pads of his paws on Itach's leg, wagging his tail wildly. Itachi allowed a smile to slip on his face.

"Pablo, you're a good dog."

* * *

><p>During the night, Sakura woke up and was unable to fall back asleep. She groaned aloud and rubbed her eyes. She tried and tried, thrashing around under her bed sheets, but the young woman was wide awake. Grumbling softly, she threw the covers off and headed down the stairs.<p>

Sakura couldn't stop thinking about her argument with Sasuke. Come to think of it, she hadn't even given him a chance to explain himself or anything. She supposed that that was unfair. However, she just couldn't get into Sasuke's mindset. What was it that drove him to say THAT so early in their relationship? She just didn't get it. Also, why would he want-no- need a wife like that? She didn't understand the traditions of the clan.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity of thought, she exited her house and knocked on her neighbor's door.

* * *

><p>Itachi's eyes flew open when he heard the rapping on his door. Pablo immediately started to yap, loudly as he could. Dragging his hands down his face, he let out a tired sigh. He subconsciously reached to the back of his head to tie his hair into a ponytail but realized that there was no hair there to do that with. He sighed once more.<p>

I don't want to get up.

However, the knocking was relentless, and Itachi sensed the chakra of the person.

"Sakura..." he mumbled sleepily. "I'm coming," he said to no one in particular and sluggishly got out of bed.

Limping down the stairs, he put up a perfect front once he reached the door. Turning the handle, he let out a quick yawn and opened the door.

There Sakura was, sheepishly smiling. She was biting her lip nervously at the same time, and Itachi had to tear his eyes away. "Sorry," she whispered. "I know it's late. I just needed to ask you something."

Itachi smiled tightly. "It's all right," he replied. "I wasn't doing anything anyway." Besides sleeping, he added in his mind. He gave her access to his home by stepping aside. "Please, come in."

"Oh, uh, thanks." She awkwardly stepped inside the house. "I promise this won't take long."

"Very well," Itachi said. "Please have a seat." He motioned to the table. Sakura swiftly and loudly made her way to the table, almost marching to it. She then clunked down into a chair. Itachi gracefully took the chair opposite her.

Then Sakura blurted, "What does Sasuke mean he needs an "elegant, graceful woman for a wife who will stay home and entertain guests if needed?"

Itachi mentally slapped himself. This would take very, very long He stood out of his chair. "Would you like some tea, Sakura-san?"

* * *

><p>Words: 741<p>

Next Update: I don't know...sorry!

I've been super busy lately, I don't even know why! I've also been getting in a lot of fights with my mom, so that's your explanation for why this is super late. I'll try to poop a chapter out tomorrow, otherwise...just wait. It'll probably be a longer one.


	35. Advice II

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>"Sakura-san, our family is strange," started out Itachi.<p>

"I know that!" Sakura snapped angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. Itachi raised an eyebrow at her outburst, and Sakura had to try her best not to blush in anger. "Continue," she mumbled sheepishly.

"Our family is strange because among all the clans, we are the ones upholding traditional values the most. The next most extreme are the Hyuuga, but even they are in the process of dissolving the restrictive seals on the branch members of the clan. Our traditions, however, have not been subject to change such as that. Rather, the heads refuse to subject our traditions to change such as that."

Sakura quirked her head to the side. "What do you mean by that?"

Itachi let out a long sigh and scratched the back of his neck gracefully. "There are many traditions we have kept, but the three we have upheld the most are pride, cultural and traditional roles, and inbreeding."

Sakura blanched a little at that. "What?" she drawled slowly.

"We are full of pride. In fact, even ten years ago, because of the Hokage, we-" Itachi paused. "Well, I can't really go into the details, but just take the word of the first son, all right?" Sakura nodded her head but could not get rid of the nagging voice that said the Uchiha were going to do something bad ten years ago. She tried her best to dismiss the voice, but it remained, softer than before, though.

"Cultural and traditional roles have remained the same for many centuries. Women tend to the house, entertain guests, and take care of the children. They are expected to give up their roles as kunoichi to become a wife and mother. They must be graceful and elegant as they serve as a display of the husband's power. Men hold most of the power. They are the main breadwinners, as you may call it, and they often hold positions of power in rank of shinobi or of political office. They are expected to be disciplined and to have control over their families. Boys are trained in the shinobi way, and girls are expected to be feminine and trained in the arts. They are often excused from becoming a kunoichi if their parents are higher ups in the clan."

"Okay, I understand a little bit more now." Sakura leaned forward on the table, and Itachi mirrored her movements. "What about the inbreeding?"

Itachi blushed ever so slightly before clearing his throat and continuing. "Higher class Uchiha all have marriages arranged for them. They are all marriages to distant," or near, he reminded himself, "cousins within the clan who are closest to your class. Sasuke and I both have arranged marriages, since we are fairly high up in the clan."

"Why didn't he tell me this?" Sakura whispered. Itachi shook his head.

"The reason he's talking about marriage with you so soon is because our father gave us a deadline two years ago. Sasuke must be married to someone by the time that he is twenty years of age. I must be married by twenty-five. To gain father's and most importantly my mother's approval, he must find a woman who is suitable to be his wife. He doesn't have much time to escape that nightmare of a woman."

"Nightmare of a wo-"

"I never said that," Itachi stated quickly, trying to cover up his mistake.

Sakura looked down at her hands. Maybe she had judged too quickly. She never knew it was that complicated. "What should I do?" she asked finally. "Should I stay with him?"

Itachi knew he would regret what he said next.

"You should stay with him. You need each other."

However, he loved his little brother more than life itself, and Sasuke deserved her.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Words: 634<p>

Question of the day: Why did you start writing fanfiction?

My answer: I started because I wanted fanart. xD

Ciao!


	36. Just Let Me Hold You

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sasuke awoke to intense knocking on his door. Whoever this was, they weren't going to give up soon. Putting his pants back on, so as to not be seen with boxers with hearts on them, and not bothering with his shirt, he lazily walked down the stairs and let out an unseemly yawn. The knocking continued, and a vein started to pop out. It was two in the goddamn morning! Couldn't this wait?<p>

He whipped open the door and groaned, "What the hell do you want?" Rubbing his eyes, he tried to wake up a little more.

He heard a familiar voice say, "Oh...I can come back in the morning if you'd like." His eyes eventually focused themselves and saw the tuft of pink hair.

Sasuke nearly fell over.

"Sakura?" he gasped. "It's late, you shouldn't be out!"

"I know, I just..." she paused. "I just wanted to-"

Sasuke stopped her. "I wanted to say that I was sorry earlier, but I couldn't find you. Really, I'm sorry for bringing this up so early and such-"

"No, no, no. It should be me who's apologizing. In fact, yes, I'm sorry. I didn't stop to listen to the full story, and I didn't know the circumstances before I blew up." Her face turned red, and her hands flew to her cheeks. "How embarrassing. I didn't know until I asked your brother. Really. I'm so sorry, Sasuke."

"Sakura..." Sasuke trailed off. The two were silent for a moment before Sasuke approached Sakura and took her into his arms. Sakura sharply inhaled at the sensation of his warm, bare skin. He rested his chin atop the crown of her forehead and kissed the top of her head.

"Sasuke, what..."

"Shh. Just let me hold you."

And she did.

* * *

><p>"Rudy, are you leaving now?" A white haired woman stared at her companion's back. "It's late. You should stay till it's safer to travel."<p>

"Nah." The blond man shook his head once and finished tying up his boots. "**Father**," he spat out, "wants me to go now. So I will."

"_Don't go stirring up trouble, for fuck's sakes_," the woman hissed. "_You're already in enough danger as is_."

"Yeah, you too," the man replied, smiling at his female partner. "Father loves you, though, so it won't be too hard, eh?" The man straightened from his crouching position and shot the woman a smile. She scowled in return.

"Come back alive, asshole. You're dealing with an Uchiha here so be careful."

* * *

><p>Words: 416<p>

Hey guys I'm early! Oh and check out my story "Innocence" on my profile mochaccino78. It's a NejiHina tho, so be warned! It's going to be in a style similar to this, except darker. Waaaay darker. There will be about one hundred chapters, following dA's 100themechallenge, variation 2. Check it out please!

Next Update: Might be tomorrow!

Question of the day: What was the worst thing that ever happened to you!


	37. Secrets

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>"Sasuke!" Naruto cried. "Watch out!"<p>

Sasuke, shifting his shoulders, inhaled sharply as he felt a kunai brush past his left ear. "Agh!" he clapped his hand to his ear instinctively, and he felt the blood ooze slowly. "Dammit, it's those same guys!" he hissed to Naruto.

"The ones from two months ago?" Naruto asked, crouching down and biting his thumb. As he performed the summoning jutsu, Sasuke squinted and sniffed the air.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it. The other guy was wearing the same scent." Cologne? Sasuke thought. However, he shook his head. It was a very...icy type of smell. Before he could think anymore, a large man came charging at him, a spear in his left hand. "Naruto!" yelled Sasuke. "Hurry up!"

The man flipped his spear in his hand, and the extended blade glinted in the sun. Sasuke clenched his teeth, but he did not falter. Bringing his hands to the tiger sign, he quickly drew up the chakra to perform a fire jutsu. The flames exploded out of his mouth, but his opponent just smiled and jumped out of the way.

Before Sasuke knew it, the man had the pole of his spear at Sasuke's throat and had both of his hands on either side. Sasuke thrust his elbows behind him, but the man successfully dodged them every single time. "Koga!" he called out. "This one's the Uchiha; hurry up and put the seal on him."

"Got it!" A man with neon yellow hair dashed out, already going through hand signs. Dammit, Sasuke thought, before the man got too close, and on impulse, he closed his eyes.

"Hey!" roared Naruto. Naruto tackled the man restraining Sasuke, causing him to stumble and loosen his hold on the spear. Sasuke took this chance to duck under the weapon and to attack the other man with a closed fist.

Now on the ground, Naruto and the other shinobi scrambled on the ground, a mess of tangled limbs and teeth. Yes, teeth. As soon as the larger shinobi sunk his teeth into the flesh of Naruto's shoulder, Naruto let out a yelp of pain and knocked his enemy out of his way. His hand flew to his shoulder, but he couldn't afford to be distracted for long. Dammit, what was with all these missions lately? They were fighting the same guys constantly! The man was now crawling towards his weapon, but Naruto yanked him backward by the hair. It instantly turned into a catfight; scratching, pulling hair, biting...there was no end to it.

Sasuke and the other man volleyed jutsu after jutsu at one another, but the other guy was just too fast. It was hard for even the Sharingan to keep up, but if he focused enough, Sasuke could do it. He had managed to land one series of blows on his opponent, but so had his opponent on he. It was almost an even match.

At the sound of a hawk screeching, Koga perked up and froze in his spot. "We got called back, Asa! We gotta go!"

"Thank God for that!" the other man said, panting. He got up from the ground and started to run. Naruto, clearly furious, got up as well.

"This isn't over!" he screamed. "I'll get you next time, you bastard!"

"You wish!" the man named Asa screamed back before he gave Naruto the finger.

Naruto turned red in anger and rolled up his sleeves. "Why I oughta-"

Sasuke laid his arm out in front of Naruto. "No," he said. "It's too dangerous, Naruto. They're not even on the mission plan. Let's just head back home. It's been a long day."

Naruto tensed as if he was about to argue, but finally, he deflated and went along with it. "They were after you," he said finally. "Why?"

"Koga!" he called out. "This one's the Uchiha; hurry up and put the seal on him."

"Got it!" A man with neon yellow hair dashed out, already going through hand signs.

"That's right...they were after 'the Uchiha.'" Sasuke paused. "It could be anybody, but they wanted to put a seal...on me. Why?"

* * *

><p>Damn guys, sorry that took so long. I started that chapter three weeks ago. xD<p>

Question of the day: What are turn offs that you find in guys/girls?


	38. Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>It was the day that Sasuke was taking Sakura home to meet the family.<p>

His fiancee would be there as well.

Sakura wouldn't lie. She was nervous. The whole day, she had been on edge, agitated. She even yelled at poor, handsome Daru, whose eyes had bulged out of their sockets. Sakura sighed. She really hadn't meant to snap at Daru, well, at anyone, but she couldn't help it. She was tense, and her heart pounded wildly in her chest. The Uchiha were, in a word, intimidating.

She picked up Omoni, ignoring his screeches of annoyance, and began to struck his fluffy fur, sighing in contentment as she felt it run between her fingers. Omoni mewed dangerously, but Sakura didn't hear him, deep within her thoughts. She couldn't even feel his claws digging into her thigh.

* * *

><p>"Sakura, you need to relax. It's just my family."<p>

"Yes, and your family is terrifying!" she hissed, swatting Sasuke on the arm. He frowned lightly but continued to stand beside her, albeit a few centimeters further.

Sakura scanned herself in the mirror one final time; she promised Sasuke it was the last. Her pink tresses were combed neatly into a bun, and her clothes didn't state anything less than classy. "All right," she sighed. "Let's go."

They exited together out her front door, stopping only to pet the cat and lock Sakura's door. Sasuke saw Sakura look longingly in the direction of her mirror, but he urged her along, eager to get out of the house. They had been there for over half an hour, and his mother would not be pleased if they were late. He looked at his watch, and disturbing chills ran up his spine.

Not pleased at all.

* * *

><p>Words: 289<p>

Next Update: Saturday

I'M BACK! Sorry for being away so long!


	39. A Little Convincing

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>"Come on, Itachi. You know your mother would love to see you." Haruna stood by him, arms crossed over her chest. "One night can't hurt. You can miss dinner with us once in a while. Natsuki won't even be there," she bit out, voice rising in volume as Itachi remained silent. She waited for a reply but sighed when she received nothing. Shaking her head, she sat next to her friend on her couch. Haruna studied his hunched over form, eyes tracing every single anomaly in his body. "What's up with your back, Itachi?" she asked finally.<p>

"Just some stressful missions," he replied shakily, rubbing his temples.

"The ones with the Mist ninja?"

"You're not supposed to know that."

"Well, my husband has a VERY big mouth, you know that."

Itachi nodded and lied down on his back, slowly rolling over onto his stomach. "Yagura's army has been stirring up trouble. He's having a rather imperialistic view on the world right now. He's been making pretty good progress advancing into Sand."

"Even more reason for you to see your mother...you want to be on good terms with her when you die, don't you?" Haruna teased.

A snort came from Shisui. "He will never die. His fans will die for him."

"Las putas," added on Haruna's grandmother.

"You're going," stressed Haruna. "Put on your shoes and go."

* * *

><p>Words: 226<p>

Next update: tomorrow

Question of the day: Did you miss me?

I missed you. :3


	40. Pouting

Sakura soon found herself face to face with the Uchiha matriarch. The woman narrowed her eyes at the young medic, sizing her up. Eventually, she gave the young lady a shady smile. "Come in, Sasuke," she said politely, though it sounded more like an order when it came from her.

"Yes, mom," sighed Sasuke.

Sakura shuffled inside, trying to be graceful, but ultimately failing. She felt her face heat up, but she tried to ignore it for her own good. Then the most infuriating thing happened.

Sakura was face to face (okay, chest) with Uchiha Itachi.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed angrily, looking around frantically.

"I came to have dinner with my mother," he replied coolly, though he was equally as flustered as she. His little brother gave him a look, but Itachi shrugged it off.

"You're the one person I didn't want to see, and you just had to show up, didn't you?" Sakura harrumphed, crossing her arms and beginning to stomp.

Itachi sighed. "I was pressured into coming so stop pouting."

"I'm not pouting."

"Yes, you are."

* * *

><p>Words: 181<p>

Next Update: Tomorrow.

Question of the day: Do you believe mental illness is real? I personally do.

Also, is anyone interested in helping me beta (or someone who pushes me to write) Perfect, Blurred, and/or Submission? I'd be eternally grateful.


	41. The Cat

Omoni stared out the window with his narrow eyes. Finally, the devil herself was gone. He could finally laze about the house in peace. He would have to find a way to get rid of her soon; she was growing much too attached for his taste. She also forgot to feed him sometimes! The nerve of that woman.

He looked to the nice man's house. He liked the nice man. Perhaps he would get the nice man to be his new servant. However, he had that annoying pooch around him all the time. Omoni couldn't for the life of him understand why the nice man didn't like it when Omoni slept on his face. It was a position of greatest honor for a servant for his cat master to lay upon his head.

Omoni sauntered over to the nice man's house on a clothes line. The nice man smelled nice, very pleasant, unlike the devil who had an assortment of perfumes that irritated his nose to no end. Omoni gazed at the bed that he now decided was his. He would sleep here and escape the devil. He would stay with the nice man instead.

* * *

><p>Words: 201<p>

Next Update: Tomorrow

Question of the Day: How do you feel about OCs? Have you ever read a story with a great OC? How about MarySues? (Feel free to rant lol)

I am guilty of making MarySues many times, however, it's better to do it in fanfiction than in something published in my opinion. XD I'm getting better at making OCs though, for the most part.


	42. Enough

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sakura was extremely uncomfortable. That was actually an understatement, but there were no other words that could describe what she was feeling at the moment. For dinner, they had placed Sakura right next Sasuke's fiancée, Hanako. It was conspiracy. Sakura decided everyone was out to get her. If she had the choice, she'd be them to place her next to anybody else, even Itachi, but it couldn't be. She just had to suck it up and be seated next to the girl.<p>

Sakura couldn't help but feel pity for this girl. She looked no more than sixteen, and she was already engaged, for God's sake! Sakura, quite frankly, wasn't sure she would ever be ready to marry! From what she could tell, Hanako was simply shy, but she seemed really nice and pretty. She smiled at Sakura from underneath her bangs. Mikoto started some small talk with Sasuke. "So how has work been lately, Sasuke?"

"Fine," he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Mikoto was clearly annoyed with his monosyllabic answers. It seemed that not all Uchiha answered with one word replies. Sasuke, noticing the clear irritation on his mother's face, elaborated. "My team has had a little trouble as of late, so..." he just railed off when his mother visibly sighed. She decided to switch to her other son.

"Itachi, what have you done with your hair, son?"

Sakura winced, hopefully not visibly, but Itachi was cool and collected. "I just needed a change."

"That's strange...you were so adamant to keeping it just five months ago when I suggested just a trim. Well, it looks odd." Sakura apologized repeatedly in her head, begging for Itachi to forgive her.

"...thank you, Mother."

"How has work been for you?"

"You know I can't talk about that," her son replied quietly, not looking up from his plate. Mikoto shot a glare at Fugaku, as if saying it was all his fault. Perspiring, Fugaku quickly began shoveling food into his mouth. Mikoto huffed, shook her head in frustration, but moved on, smiling at Sakura.

"Men," she laughed. "Men in this family have speech impediments, no?"

"Oh, yes." Sakura replied enthusiastically. "It's already hard for me to get Sasuke to say hi to me, let alone have an actual conversation."

Mikoto grinned. "Many grunts and 'yeahs,' right?"

Sakura clapped her hands once. "Exactly. Your other son is slightly more articulate, though."

Mikoto looked surprised. "You speak to Itachi often?"

"We are neighbors," Itachi reminded her and turned to Sakura, clearly remembering something. "That insufferable beast of yours-"

Sakura's eyes narrowed at him. "What about my baby?" she hissed.

"It has been harassing my dog," he informed her. "It must stop."

"Oh, your dog?" Sakura cooed incredulously. "You mean your rat?"

"He is not a rat!" Itachi retorted. "He is a brindle Chihuahua. How many times must I tell you this, Sakura?" Mikoto looked on in something akin to horror and awe. Her son was actually arguing with someone, and he had started it! Tears of happiness could have filled her eyes. the two continued to bicker until Hanako cried out, "Stop!"

Everyone started at her, surprised at her outburst. She blushed, embarrassed at what she had done. "I'm sorry," she squeaked. "I had no right to-"

"Oh, no, no, no," Sakura said, placing her hand over her heart. "It's our fault," she said truthfully.

"Indeed. We shouldn't have done this here," Itachi concurred. "This isn't finished," he mouthed quickly to Sakura.

"Stop it," she whispered, glaring at him.

"I-I just don't like yelling; I'm sorry..." Her voice became progressively higher and softer with every word.

Sakura took a sip of water to try and calm down.

"So Sakura, when are you and Sasuke thinking of getting married and starting a family?"

She choked.

Hanako clapped Sakura's back, helping Sakura breathe again, who thanked her. when she finally regained her breath, she weakly stated, "I think it's a little early to be thinking about that." Sasuke's heart began to beat extremely fast. It wasn't a topic that Sakura enjoyed speaking about.

"Well, it's been three months," Mikoto said in a matter of fact tone. "It's been more than enough, isn't it?"

"I'm only twenty years old!" Sakura sputtered. "I'm not ready to get married or have a baby!"

"Well, don't you think that makes it a little hard on Sasuke?"

Sakura and Mikoto simultaneously shot glares at Sasuke. He gulped nervously and chuckled. "Well?" snapped Mikoto. Her glare intensified, and it was far scarier than Sakura's.

"Well, um...I guess a little, but y'know, it's not...um, yes, kind of?" Sakura gaped at him with her mouth open.

"See?" Mikoto said a little smugly. "I want grandchildren soon, Sakura." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I have no problem with your relationship with Sasuke. I like you, Sakura. You're exactly the type of girl Sasuke wants." She stopped and looked at Hanako. "Hanako knows the expectations of the clan; she's been living this way her entire life, and it would be easy for her to adjust if she were to be the matriarch. After all, we still don't know if Itachi or Sasuke will take over when Fugaku and I are done. She paused. "I don't if you could handle that. You would have to abandon everything, and I know what it's like." Sakura saw the sadness in Mikoto's eyes, a woman who had stopped chasing after her dreams to help Fugaku and raise a family. Dinner was nowhere near done, but Itachi decided it was enough.

"Sakura," he called, quietly but firmly, "let me walk you home." For once, she didn't put up a fight. She nodded and rose out of her seat.

with a pained look in his eyes, Sasuke begged, "Sakura, don't do this. We can talk."

Sakura shook her head. "I need to...think." Turning to the rest of them, she said, "Thank you for having me. Hanako, nice to meet you." Hanako waved sadly at Sakura, and Itachi gently ushered her out the door.

On the way home, Sakura thought about what Mikoto said. It had been a very...eye opening dinner-though she had hardly eaten. Sakura had dreams. She hoped that she would someday be Shishou's equal, to be head of the hospital, to learn all that there was about medical jutsu. Could she give up all of her dreams for Sasuke? Maybe before, but now? It was clear that he had more respect for his mother than for her. Mikoto knew exactly which buttons to push, and Sasuke had not defended her once that entire time. She loved him, but now she wasn't sure if he loved her. Had he decided that it would be convenient to love her because he knew that she had true feelings for him? No, she was sure he did like her, but it wasn't love. He could learn to love her, but it would require Sakura to...

"Sakura?" Itachi's voice snapped the girl out of her thoughts. "Are you all right?" he inquired.

Sakura stuttered, "Well, um, not...not really, but I'll...I'll be okay." He raised a brow at her, and she scowled. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that I know my mother gets to people. She used to work in interrogation." Not surprising.

Sakura's lips twisted into an awkward smile. "I know; it's just..." Tears stung at her eyes, and she bit her lips, staring at him while lowering her head. "I just don't what to do," she choked, her voice quivering.

Oh no, thought Itachi. She's going to cry, she's going to cry, she's going to cry- one lone tear swam down Sakura's face as she stifled a sob. She's crying, confirmed Itachi.

"Your mother's right, you know. Sasuke's ambitious, he's going to try to become head of the clan."

"You are correct," Itachi said truthfully.

"She was right to warn me. I don't think..."

"You don't think what?"

"I don't think I can handle it. What's worse is Sasuke expects this out of me." She laughed mirthlessly. "You probably do, too."

"Sakura, I don't expect anything of you besides keeping your animal out of my house." This time, he drew out a real smile.

"I'm sorry about what I did to your hair?"

Itachi was confused. "Why? It's fine."

"Well, it was wrong of me and-"

He stopped her, poking her in the forehead. "I was childish towards you as well. It was well deserved. Besides, I like it now." He smiled at her, a real smile.

Sakura beamed at him but felt the need to remind him of the fact that she hated him. "Don't think this makes us friends."

"Of course not."

* * *

><p>Words: 1452 I bet you're proud of me. Praise me.<p>

Next Update: tomorrow.

Question of the Day: Who is your favorite pairing in the Naruto universe?

Mine is actually NaruSaku, but I'm leaving that up to Kishimoto-sensei to write.


	43. Advice III

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Hinata was angry. Even Sasuke could tell. Well, after barging in on a romantic dinner, there anniversary no less, anyone would be angry. Naruto was glaring at him a bit, too.<p>

"Sorry, Naruto," Sasuke mumbled.

"No problem," he grunted, crossing his arms. He glanced at Hinata. She had put on such a beautiful dress for him (though he would just be taking it off later), she went through all the effort of trying to impress him- a rather easy feat- but nonetheless, he had to help his best friend out before he could get on with this night. "What did you do, man?"He expected a retort, but he received none, only the full story.

Hinata sighed.

"Sasuke-kun, you're in very big t-trouble," Hinata said a bit mockingly.

He gave her a mean look.

"Shut up."

Naruto sighed and rubbed his temples. "Guys, I know you hate each other, but at least try to be civil while I'm around."

"Fine!" they snapped simultaneously.

"Sasuke," Hinata started. "I shall help you."

"I came here for help from Naruto, not you," Sasuke sneered.

"W-well, Sasuke, I am a woman, I will understand her better than her male friends even though I do not know her very well," she said in a matter of fact tone.

Sasuke hesitated. "Go on," he begrudgingly said.

"If you want Sakura, you have to take on your family. It may mean completely being cut off and paying your own taxes-"

"Hey, Naruto you told her!"

"No, I didn't-"

"Baby, be quiet. If your position means more, then you and Sakura have no chance. At this rate, it looks like you're more likely to become the Uchiha patriarch."

"That is a lie."

"It is not, and you and I both know it!" Hinata snapped. "Listen, Sasuke. We both know how clan politics work. I had to do the same thing for Naruto." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"If you really love Sakura, you'll know what to do."

* * *

><p>I know, not a day, but I was swamped with AP testing. Who else took them?<p>

Question of the day: What are your religious beliefs.

I do not know how to define myself personally, but I suppose I am Christian. I believe in God and Jesus, but don't know how much of the Bible's word I can take.


	44. Time Wasted

Sakura heard Sasuke knocking on the door. No, she really didn't want to see him so soon. That would mean-

"Sakura, can we talk?" Sasuke yelled out, leaning against the door. Sakura sighed, chewing her bottom lip nervously. "I know you're there." Shoulders slumping, she unlocked her door and opened it. "Sakura, about last night-"

"What?" she said, exhausted. "What could you possibly have to say?"

"I'm sorry that I didn't stand up for you. I really am."

Sakura let out a breath. "Why didn't you, Sasuke? Are you that afraid of them?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed, being truthful for once. "You have no idea what they..." he paused. "...what they did to Shisui. You have no idea."

"No, I don't. Care to elaborate?"

"He married a foreign woman, a woman who wasn't even from Konoha. Then...the clan, they...they disowned him, Sakura."

"Well," Sakura said sadly. "He must have really loved her then."

"Sakura..." Sasuke whispered, his voice pained. "Let's not do this."

"No, Sasuke. You obviously don't love me enough to even stick up for me or for yourself. Your mother's right, you know. I can't do it."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What? Sakura, no..."

"It's over, Sasuke."

"Sakura-"

"No, she whispered, her voice cracking.

"Maybe I don't love you now, but that could change, Sakura," Sasuke pleaded.

"Sasuke," Sakura sighed, taking his hand in hers. "I have wasted almost ten years of my life loving you, giving almost everything I had to make you love me...and I can't do it anymore." A tear trickled down her cheek, but she continued on, strong. "No. It's over."

Sasuke's heart felt as if it had stopped beating.

Sakura sniffed, nodding her head. "I have to go to work." Their shoulders collided as she left. Sasuke just stared at her leaving, already missing her.

* * *

><p>Words: 300<p>

Next update: Tomorrow. I've got loads of free time now.

Request of the day: I am considering making some manga. I have poll on my profile page, so if you could do it that would be great! Don't feel be pressured to do it though!


	45. Just a Little

Ino knew something was up.

Sakura had been extremely quiet the whole morning and had not ogled the cute, male nurse's butt even once! That was practically a record for the whole world-three hours without looking at his bottom. She had also been prone to fits of sighing and staring into the distance. Ino made up her mind; she was going to confront her.

"Sakura, what has been going on? You're not acting like yourself."

"It's nothing," the young medic murmured underneath her breath, sifting through the pile of incoming patients.

Ino huffed. "You know, I'm not going to drop it until you tell me, right?" Sakura rolled her slightly puffy eyes.

"It's really nothing."

"Sakura, tell me."

"It's nothing."

"NOW."

"Sasuke and I broke up, okay?" She finally screeched. Ino's face contorted in sympathy.

"I'm sorry, honey. When?"

"Just this morning," Sakura sighed, rubbing her temples. "I...just really don't want to talk about it right now...can we talk tonight?"

Ino rubbed her friend's back. "Sure thing, baby. Sure thing."

* * *

><p>Words: 170<p>

Question of the Day: What do you think of the "purge" that has been happening on FF . net?


	46. Malicious

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Pablo stood faithfully near his master's feet.<p>

"Master Itachi is so kind," he panted gleefully. "He gives me such delicious food every day." Master Itachi was currently chopping up chicken for his blue brindle Chihuahua and smiled when he caught Pablo's tail wagging. Pablo yipped when Itachi lowered his bowl, licking his lips when it touched the ground. Dashing forward, he began munching away at his food.

Suddenly, he sensed a dark presence. He began yapping away at the door, trying to keep his Master safe. It was Master Itachi's dreadful little brother, Sasuke. Sasuke smelled awful, the stench making him overwhelmingly nauseous.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at the man behind the door. Sighing, he patted his cute dog on the head (yes, cute) and went forth to answer it. "Sasuke, why have you-"

He was cut off by the nauseating scent of alcohol. He instinctively held his breath. He continued. "Sasuke, why have you come here?"

"Lithen, d-dumbass," he slurred, pointing an accusing finger at his older brother. "I'll come hur any damn TIME I want!" He swayed, and Itachi tried to steady the man but was quickly slapped away.

"Very well," Itachi replied, giving up. "Come inside as you please."

"Damn straight I will!" Sasuke blurted, his knees wobbling as he walked. "G-gimme some SAKE!"

"I don't think so. Here, sit on the couch. Your favorite couch." Itachi guided his brother, who was mumbling how the couch was really his favorite, to the sofa and helped him take off his shoes. "I'll get you some coffee."

"I said I want SAKE, SAKE, you nincompoop."

Itachi's thought process stopped for a moment as he processed the fact that his brother had really called him a nincompoop, but he proceeded, repeating, "I'll get you some coffee."

Itachi quickly made some coffee, but he discovered that his guest had fallen asleep on the couch, snoring obnoxiously. He just shook his head in annoyance. If Sasuke was this inebriated, it could only mean that Sakura had broken up with him and he had drunk himself into oblivion. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone leaving his neighbor's house-he wasn't spying, for god's sake...just observing-and when he looked closer, he was it was Ino. It confirmed it, that his little brother and his unseemly neighbor had broken up.

Poor Sasuke, he thought, exhaling deeply. But...he got what he deserved.

* * *

><p>Ino was furious. "I don't want to go with them," she truthfully told Tsunade. "I'm afraid our teamwork won't be as good as it should be."<p>

Tsunade sighed. "Ino, why is that?"

"BECAUSE Sasuke's a jerk!" she exploded, nearly ripping out her well-kept, blonde hair.

Tsunade's sigh became deeper and more exaggerated. "Ino, they need a medic."

"Well, no!"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the young woman. "Ino, you are to go with Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi on their trip. Understood?" Ino was about to protest, but Tsunade said, "It's an order."

Ino's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

The mission itself was fairly uneventful, Ino thought. Sasuke was pissed (and a little hungover), and he was more ruthless than usual. Naruto seemed a bit afraid of him, and Kakashi shook his head and murmured many "good grief's." They had a mission to retrieve a secret scroll which _even they_ were not allowed to look at.

However, after the mission was "completed," they were attacked. Three men came, two blond, one with dark skin and hair, and went straight for Sasuke. Ino hadn't deemed it odd at the time, but now that she thought about it, it was really strange. They used double-headed spears, and one was extremely fast. Faster than any elite ninja she had ever met. They eventually retreated, for no reason -thank god, though, because they had been losing. Badly.- and now, the group was staying at a little motel for the night.

Ino laid out her futon and informed the men she was going to take a bath. "Very well," Kakashi said, not looking up from his naughty book. "Have fun."

"I will," she said haughtily. "You should join me. The more the merrier!" she chirped, not bothering to conceal her flirtatious nature.

"Um, I'm busy," Kakashi said, a light blush dusting his cheeks. It was hardly noticeable, but it was there.

"Clearly," Ino sarcastically drawled, pointedly glancing at his book. The copy ninja shrugged and kept reading.

"We'll be down in the bar!" Naruto told her.

"Naruto, you know the rules!" Ino scolded him. "No drinking on the job."

"But-but, we're already done with our mission," Naruto complained.

Kakashi said, "However, we are not within the village confines, meaning our mission is not really over. I see no reason why a few drinks wouldn't hurt, though."

Naruto smirked, and Ino pursed her lips. Why couldn't Kakashi ever take her side? "Fine," she spat out, stomping away to take her bath, passing by a white haired woman as she did so.

She was too far away to know that the woman was telling her companions that she had found the Uchiha.

* * *

><p>Naruto gulped.<p>

That was waaaay more than a few drinks. Sasuke was WASTED.

"Ahaha, Sasuke, I think that's enough for tonight, right?"

"Shaddup, Naruto. Gimme more!" Sasuke bellowed, which was rather uncharacteristic of him. He never really bellowed, he ...shouted, yelled, but now he was acting like a fucking whale. "Naruto, you know what S-sakura did to me?" he moaned. "She dumped me!"

"I know...you told me yesterday..." Naruto's voice trailed off as he saw his companion take a whole bottle of plum wine and drink it like it was water. "I think you've had enough, Sasuke." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder, but Sasuke was struggling violently. He bumped into a man.

"What are you looking at?" he drawled, jabbing the man in the chest.

Pretty soon, Sasuke had gotten the whole bar into a frenzy, and Naruto went to get his sensei to help him, leaving Sasuke by himself.

Even drunk, he was still coordinated enough to beat four men and start drinking again. "That'll teach them!" he said to no one in particular, not noticing a white haired woman sauntering up to him. Scratch that. He definitely noticed. She was sexy but not nearly as pretty as Sakura, though.

"You seem to be a real tough guy," she purred, her shoulder brushing his.

"Damn straight," he replied. "I'm gonna be the head of the Uchiha clan someday," he bragged, smiling like an idiot. The woman's lips curled upward.

"Well, Mr. head of the Uchiha clan, how about you come upstairs? If you do-" her lips brushed Sasuke's ear- "I'll show you a real good time."

Sasuke practically jumped into the woman's arms as she escorted him upstairs, not noticing the malicious smile she had on her face.

* * *

><p>Words: 1,136!<p>

YEAH. DAMMIT. My Internet was gone for like five days so that's why I couldn't get this to you earlier. So sorry. :(

Question of the day: Who is your favorite character in this fanfic?


	47. escalation

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>When Sasuke woke up, he was in his room again, Ino screeching at him. "-you listening, Sasuke? Where is it?" she yelled. His head was pounding, and a bad, putrid taste covered his fuzzy tongue.<p>

"What?" he snapped, putting covers over his head.

"The scroll!" Ino hissed, ripping them off again.

Sasuke, confused, asked, "What about the scroll?"

"Where is the scroll?" Kakashi calmly asked with just an edge of irritation in his voice.

"Stop worry, it's in my pocket-" he reached down into his pocket.

The scroll was gone.

"I told you to stop drinking, didn't I?" Naruto exclaimed.

"I told you not to drink at all!" Ino said angrily, stomping her foot down. "You didn't listen, and now our mission's been botched up thanks to you!"

"When Kakashi-sensei and I went down there to get you, you were gone!" Naruto informed Sasuke, narrowing his eyes at his friend. "Where did you go, and where did you put the scroll?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about." Then, images of a white haired woman flashed before his eyes, and all the blood drained out of his face. "Oh, no."

"Oh, no?" Kakashi voiced, his lone eye staring straight into Sasuke's.

"I-I was just so upset, and this lady came onto me and-"

Ino's eyes widened, and she pursed her lips. "And?"

"I think I've been had."

* * *

><p>A vein popped out in Tsunade's neck, her very throat becoming flushed with anger. "You did what?"<p>

"The woman Sasuke slept with stole our scroll," Kakashi said grimly, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets.

Tsunade's furious eyes turned to Sasuke as if she were trying to glare him to death. Her eye twitched. "Is this true?" Each word rolled off her tongue like venom.

Ashamed and defeated, Sasuke solemnly nodded. "It's true."

Tsunade just shook her head in disappointment, not even able to look at the man-no, boy.

"Very well. Kakashi, I expect a full mission report by noon tomorrow. I want. Every. Detail." She bit out, her interlaced hands gripping each other with such a ferocity that Ino thought they would be turned to ash. "Dismissed." They all turned to leave. "Not you, Uchiha."

Sasuke froze in his spot as Naruto gave him a sympathetic look. Ino's features contorted in disgust, and she hastily left the room. Kakashi squeezed his shoulder before casually departing.

He turned around and faced the Hokage. Her hand motioned for him to take the chair across from her. "Sit," she said. Sasuke obeyed.

"Sasuke," she muttered. "What am I going to do with you?" She chugged some sake, closing her eyes. " You should be glad nothing happened to you. You could have been killed. I know it's been hard this week, with the break up and all, but that is no excuse for losing a piece of crucial information."

"I can retrieve it. I promise!" he claimed, a pleading tone sneaking its way into his voice. "I can fix my mistake."

"No." Her gaze turned hard. "You will live with this disgrace." Tsunade leaned forward and outstretched her hand. "Your headband." Sasuke gulped when he realized what the Hokage was about to do.

"Please," he begged her. "Don't do this to me."

"Sasuke, I have no choice. Even if you are to be the heir of the Uchiha Clan, I can't give you any special treatment. You are suspended from missions and any shinobi work for seven weeks. Now, your headband."

With great sadness, Sasuke placed his headband into Tsunade's waiting hand.

* * *

><p>"Ugh...I'm so angry!" Ino shouted, throwing her arms up in the air. "I thought you guys would be more adjusted than my team which is filled with lazy asses! How can you guys not be angry?"<p>

Naruto sighed. "I am angry," he admitted. "But Sasuke is my friend. He's probably getting chewed out enough right now."

Ino turned to Kakashi, and Naruto saw this as his chance to escape. He murmured a quick, "see ya," before scampering off to Hinata's house.

"Why'd you let him go drinking?" she asked quietly, stopping Kakashi in his tracks. "Did you know about the break up?"

"No," he confessed. "If I had, I would never have let him go. Sasuke's usually the levelheaded one," he explained to the beautiful woman. "Usually, it's Naruto we have to carry up to the room."

Ino sighed. "I can't blame him that much. I guess all of us had some fault in it, but I don't want to admit that. I still can't believe it, though. I can't believe he would compromise us like that," she spat bitterly, kicking at a rock on the ground. Kakashi looked at the young woman who was very upset. She was obviously in need of comforting, but Kakashi knew that he was terrible at that...

"Do you..."

"Yes?" Ino said, her bright gaze locking with his.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, uncomfortable.

"Do you want...to have some coffee with me?"

Ino stared at him in disbelief but eventually agreed to go.

* * *

><p>Sakura sniffed. Omoni was missing again! It seemed that more and more often he would disappear out of the blue. It was happening almost every day. He'd return in the morning for breakfast, one suited for a king, but Sakura still wondered where he had been going.<p>

She really wanted to cuddle with her kitty right now. She couldn't handle him leaving her.

She wondered if he had really been going over to Itachi's house as he had told her, without lacking frustration. She could go over and ask him. After all, she had a few final questions about Sasuke.

Sakura bit down on her lip. Did Omoni love Itachi more than he loved her? Did Itachi now want Omoni as well? Were they keeping this from her?

Oh, god. She flopped down on her bed. She was going nuts.

* * *

><p>"Shoo, shoo!" Itachi hissed, flashing eyes of red at Omoni. "Go away, you insufferable beast!"<p>

Pablo assisted his master by barking at Omoni, a cat who could easily outweight him by fifteen pounds. Still, Pablo would do his duty.

"Pathetic," Itachi chastised himself. Turning on his Sharingan to scare away a housecat was absolutely pathetic. Still, he did not like cats at all. At all.

No, Omoni had not grown on him at all. Not at all.

The lardy furball was almost always around. Itachi, to be honest, had actually gotten used to it, as sad as that was. Omoni constantly took Pablo's bed, so Itachi would always end up taking his little pooch into bed with him. He didn't really mind since Omoni would- most of the time- stay away from his face. Every morning, the feline would jump out of his window and go back to his home for food.

He figured he should probably tell Sakura, but he didn't like how he felt around her.

* * *

><p>Words: 1154<p>

Next update: either sat or thurs.

Question of the Day: What's your favorite fanfic? Mine is Tooth and Fang by Amara Amon. It's one from the Inuyasha fandom.


	48. story

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Sakura felt ridiculous. The whole day she was getting upset over little things. She'd gotten upset over the disappearance of Omoni, at Itachi for harboring Omoni in his home, at Tsunade for being the Hokage, at Ino for being alive...<p>

Not once had she gotten mad at Sasuke, and that bothered her. She should be furious at him, and she simply...couldn't bring herself to do it. She still cared too much. What he had said bothered her.

_Sakura let out a breath. "Why didn't you, Sasuke? Are you that afraid of them?"_

_"Yes!" he exclaimed, being truthful for once. "You have no idea what they..." he paused. "...what they did to Shisui. You have no idea."_

_"No, I don't. Care to elaborate?"_

_"He married a foreign woman, a woman who wasn't even from Konoha. Then...the clan, they...they disowned him, Sakura."_

What did he mean by that? Was it really that bad? She was curious.

And when Sakura was curious about the Uchiha clan, she went to her neighbor.

* * *

><p>Pablo was sitting on his lap, curled up into a tight ball. Itachi looked to Omoni. The cat was sleeping contentedly on his back. He hoped that Sakura wouldn't worry too much about the creature.<p>

He heard a rapping at the door. "Sakura..." he deduced. Opening the door, he scanned her features. She looked, well, okay. It seemed she was faring much better than his brother. The only sign of distress was that she had dark circles under her eyes and was clearly fatigued.

"May I come in?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Clearing his throat, he muttered, "Of course," and let her in. Sakura saw Omoni, and her face brightened.

"Baby!" she squealed, running over to him. Seeing his slave, Omoni purred. Sakura stopped in her tracks.

Omoni had purred.

"What have you done to him?" she asked, her voice full of disbelief.

"What do you mean?"

"He's being so sweet; look, he's even letting me rub his belly." Sakura was confused. "What did you do?"

"Honestly, I have no idea whatsoever. Would you like some tea?"

Sakura waved her hand. "No, thanks. I'm already imposing on you."

"You have another longwinded query, don't you?"

"...sorry. I just want to know why Shisui was disowned."

"Ever since we were young, Shisui had always been attracted to Haruna. Haruna, a little later, developed feelings for him. However, Haruna is from a despised clan from Kirigakure so Shisui's parents did not approve of her," Itachi muttered. "He asked for permission to marry her."

"Then?"

"They said no, and he did it anyway. Now, his parents disowned him. A good part of the clan looks down on him, but they are being foolish."

"What? Why? I mean he's not in line to be the heir, is he?"

"No, but my aunt and uncle are very old-fashioned. He had a fiancée, and he completely ignored her for every year of her existence."

"...really?"

"Yes. Even when Haruna and I were fifteen, he was already pursuing her. They have been together for nine years. Now, Auntie and Uncle won't even talk to him anymore. Shisui is one of the only Uchiha who don't live on the compound."

"Would Shisui say it was worth it?" Her eyes were fearful, sad. Itachi closed his.

"Yes. Yes, he would say every minute was worth it."

* * *

><p>Words: 560<p>

Next update: lol idk

Question of the day: What is your sexual orientation? (feel free not to answer if it makes you uncomfortable) I personally am bi.


	49. Development

She had gotten the scroll. Upon opening it, she scoffed and realized that it contained information that was almost six months outdated. The Konoha-nin needed a new spy. Scratching the inside of her nose, the white-haired woman smiled. Now Father would be proud of her. Now she would be treated as an equal member, and Rudy wouldn't constantly try to patronize her.

She had gotten a seal on that stupid Uchiha man, and he would likely never find it.

* * *

><p>Words: 79<p>

I've been spoiling you too much! Lol, jk, I know it's tragically short. But it's development!

Question of the day: Do weeaboos/wapanese piss you off? Why or why not?

DEF: Someone who's world revolves around anime and manga and that's all they freakin' talk about 24/7 because they don't know anything about anything else in the world. They are like otaku's but worse and and major geeks and nerds. AKA Melissa Leonard. They also bash the japanese culture and language by trying to talk japanese and saying KONICHIWA! OMG THAT'S KAWAII DESU! NYA!

I personally don't like it that much, but I do have some friends like this that I genuinely love. However, if these people were really in Japan, they'd be grouped amongst otaku, which is NOT a compliment in Japanese culture.

There is a definitive line between loving anime and obsessing over it.


	50. Assistance

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>Beads of sweat travelled down Sakura's neck. She realized the previous day that she had been neglecting her training and decided to start up again. Frustrated, she pondered if it had always been that hard. Bending her elbows, she lowered herself centimeters above the ground. She decided that she would hold that position for five minutes; she couldn't afford to be too easy on herself.<p>

Upon finishing her training, Sakura started to stroll back home. It had been a good idea to exercise her body today. It had provided as a distraction from Sasuke. She was surprised how easy it was to get over him, but it was still hard. There was a part of her that wanted to hold on to her attraction for him since she had kept it for over ten years, but Sakura put her foot down. She was not allowed to like Sasuke anymore. No sir; he was not going to be the man in her life anymore.

Of course, her heart still betrayed her whenever she saw him on the streets. She wanted to hold him, to take back her words, to shower his face with kisses...but she had to hold strong. They both had made their decisions.

Making her way back to her house, she rubbed the back of her neck with her towel. Upon entering her shower, she sighed in exhaustion, gingerly rubbing her sore muscles. She had been slacking off for far too long. If she hadn't put off her training, she wouldn't be aching so badly.

Her doorbell was rung once, twice, then three times. Sakura rolled her eyes. What was so important that they had to disturb her at ten at night? She quickly dried herself off so she could go greet her guest. She roughly pulled the door open.

"Itachi?" she sneered. "What do you want?" Itachi was probably here to complain to her about Omoni, or the clothes line, or about how she was always noisy in her room.

"Have you seen Pablo?" he asked. Sakura blankly stared at him. That was not what she had expected at all.

"The rat? No, haven't seen him anywhere." She furrowed her brows. "Why? What happened?"

"I haven't seen him all day," Itachi sighed. "I thought maybe he would have come here by chance...well, thank you for your time."

Sakura touched him. She wasn't sure why she did, but it just felt natural to do at the moment. "When did you last see him?" she asked. Realizing her hand was tenderly laying on his wrist, she recoiled almost violently.

"Last night. I don't know where he could have gone," Itachi huffed, squeezing his eyes shut.

Feeling bad for him, she offered, "I could help you look for him." She almost regretted saying those words when she saw the expression in his face. It was indiscernible. His eyes glazed over, and his mouth just hung open for a moment, his jaw slack.

Itachi, realizing the dumbstruck look on his face, bit down on his cheek and nodded. "Um, that would be..."

"Nice," Sakura finished for him.

"Exactly," Itachi concurred.

The two walked all around the town. "Where does he usually go when he runs away?" Sakura tentatively inquired. Itachi shrugged. "What does that mean?" she hissed, scowling.

"He usually doesn't run away," Itachi replied.

Sakura looked at him like he was crazy. "Omoni disappears about twice a day."

"I would not be able to handle that. I would go crazy from worry." He softly called out his pet's name. Sakura nudged his shoulder, raising an eyebrow at him.

"He won't be able to hear you," Sakura whispered to him. He shook his head.

"He will."

"No, he won't," she affirmed.

"I suppose I could search for his chakra," Itachi exhaled.

"Does that even work the same for non-ninja animals?" Sakura questioned, a bit confused. "I wouldn't think it does."

"I'm not sure," Itachi murmured. Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is all right, Omoni-san?" Pablo asked.<p>

"Yes, yes, for the thousandth time, Pablo. I do this every day, and Sakura never worries," Omoni drawled lazily.

Pablo, looking back toward the direction of his home, tried to fight off this feeling of worry. He had never left the house without Itachi before. He felt bad, leaving Master Itachi unprotected.

"My slave Sakura has been very weepy this past week," Omoni growled, licking his paw.

"Sakura-san?" Pablo perked up. "I can always hear Itachi's heartbeat increase when he sees her."

"I believe the humans call it 'attraction,'" Omoni surmised. "I find that is usually a precursor to mating."

"Do you think they will mate?" Pablo asked, wagging his tail at the possibility.

"It's possible," Omoni said, rubbing his paw against his face. "We should probably get you back."

* * *

><p>They had been walking around for an hour, and Pablo was nowhere to be found. Sakura, on a hunch, had went to all the places Omoni regularly visited, but they were nowhere to be found. Sakura shivered, the cool air brushing against her neck. Itachi noticed out of the corner of his eye. He rubbed the back of his neck, not wanting to impose on her any longer.<p>

"Let's head on back," he suggested. "It's getting a bit cold out here."

She perked up in response. "Yes, let's," she replied eagerly, whipping around. "Let's go, Itachi."

Upon reaching their houses, Sakura bid Itachi good night.

"Would you like to have some tea?" he offered, opening his door a little wider. "You seem a bit chilly."

Sakura pondered on it. Her first reaction was "no way, asshole," but now that seemed a bit harsh. He quirked a brow at her. Sakura knew he wasn't intentionally trying to be kind; that's just how he was. It wasn't like he was trying to get into her pants or anything. She made a decision to stop being so hostile toward him.

"Yes, I would like that," she said with a smile.

* * *

><p>Yes, Omoni and Pablo have a BROMANCE.<p>

Sorry, it took me so long to upload this. I didn't have internet for a little over a month.

Question of the day: What's your biggest kink? (lol, yes in that way)

I like biting. ;)


	51. Opportunity

Tsunade giggled as Jiraya traced circles into the side of her breast, halfheartedly pushing him away.

"Come on," he said, pressing his lips to the side of her neck. "You know you want to."

"No," she laughed. "Stop it. Haven't you had enough?"

Jiraya turned on the smolder. "I can never have enough of you." He stroked her jaw line tenderly, giving her a wet kiss on her shoulder.

Tsunade smirked. "You do very thorough research," she teased, pecking him on the lips. Jiraya smiled into the kiss and deepened it. Tsunade moaned as he-

A screech came out from just outside the window, and a hawk haphazardly landed in the Slug Princess's bedroom, causing her to flinch in alarm. She pulled the bed sheets over her naked breasts, and Jiraya just looked at her quizzically.

"It's just a hawk," he told her. She shot him a pointed look.

"Well, I remember some perverts who told their summons to report back which panties I was wearing that day."

"Hey, it was his idea," Jiraya defended himself, throwing his arms in the air. Tsunade just rolled her eyes as she put on a robe. The hawk stood there patiently, waiting for Tsunade to untie the scroll from his leg. Tsunade dismissed him, and he gracefully glided out the window.

Unraveling the scroll, Tsunade ignored the groan coming from Jiraya.

"Can't you do this later?" he asked, frustrated that she was ignoring him.

"No. Now hush," she ordered, sitting down to read it. Examining the scroll thoroughly, she gasped in the middle of her reading and exclaimed to herself. Upon finishing, she grasped it tightly and jumped in a circle.

"Jiraya, Jiraya, come here," she squealed, beckoning for him to embrace her.

Enthusiastically, he inquired, "Wall sex?" Tsunade shook her head. Shoulders slumping, Jiraya pouted. Sulking his way over to her, he sighed. "What is it?"

"Sakura was accepted to train with my teacher!" she shouted with glee, throwing her arms around Jiraya. Jiraya's eyes widened. That was, without a doubt, amazing. Tsunade's teacher had been a highly skilled woman, but...

"Isn't she extremely old?"

Tsunade's features contorted in sadness. "Unfortunately, yes. These past thirty years, she's been having health problems, as well."

"Jesus, how old is this woman?" he exclaimed incredulously. Tsunade shrugged.

"I honestly have no idea." She wrapped her legs around his hips, and Jiraya perked up.

"Now wall sex?"

"Yup."

* * *

><p>"Why that little rat!" Sakura hissed, clenching her fists together. There Omoni and Pablo were, cuddling on the couch. Omoni meowed at her, and she nearly told him off until Itachi told her not to disturb Pablo's sleep.<p>

"Ah, I'm sore," Sakura moaned. "Do you have any chamomile?"

"I believe so," Itachi responded, opening his cabinets. "I saw you training today. It was very awe-inspiring. I have never seen anybody smash so many trees and rocks."

Sakura's cheeks and chest flushed. "That was just me blowing off steam; it wasn't actually a part of training."

"Ah," Itachi accepted readily, nodding his head. "Fairly common for most."

Sakura snorted loudly and slapped a hand over her mouth. That was so rude and unladylike of her! She couldn't believe she did that.

Itachi thought it was cute.

"Well, I guess even ANBU captains have something they need to take their frustration out on."

"After some time, I'd rather have someone take my frustration."

Sakura froze. Was Itachi...did he just make a sex joke? Oh, God. That was so awkwardly hilarious. She never expected him to say something like that. That was probably why it was so funny, but she just couldn't bring herself to laugh. She just sat there gaping at him.

Itachi became uncomfortable with Sakura's gaze. He fidgeted, trying to ignore it, but it was too intense. "Did I...say something inappropriate?"

"Yes, but it was funny," Sakura replied, her face blank.

"Oh," he muttered, turning around so she couldn't see his blush. God, she had made him nervous. Why was he reacting like this? He felt like he was that stupid teenager who had that stupid crush again. "Well, the tea's ready," he said softly, bringing Sakura's cup to her. She received it with a "thank you" and sighed in satisfaction. He sat across from her, sipping his tea lightly.

"Are you virgin?" Sakura blurted.

Itachi choked loudly and clapped his chest. He tried to contain his blush and sputtered a messy "What?"

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "I was just curious. Most guys that look like you aren't."

"Look like me?"

"Y'know, hot people?"

"I see." Itachi pounded his chest a few more times. "Well, no. I am not."

Sakura cocked her head to the side. "When'd you lose it?"

"Well, it was when I was fifteen. Haruna introduced me. Needless to say, it was terrible. However, I was attempting to make Haruna jealous, and it clouded my judgment."

Sakura grinned haughtily. "Oh, so you had a crush on Haruna then?"

"It developed when I was five, but luckily, I have since realized that she was never going to love me so I moved on."

Sakura then felt genuinely depressed. That was one of the saddest things she had ever heard. Itachi had been so in love, but then she would never love him. Then Shisui ended up getting the girl.

"Don't you feel bitter?" Sakura inquired tenderly.

Itachi smiled and shook his head. "I'm far past that. I'm happy that we were never together; she would have ended up murdering me. She was very much in love with another man."

Sakura smiled. "Shisui?"

Itachi then said, "No."

Sakura then felt awkward because of her assumption. Now she felt sorry for the guy. Jilted twice, basically, for two other men. Sipping her tea, Sakura decided to lighten it up with yet another sex joke. "Well, I'm sure there are people who can help you with your frustration."

"Yes, me," he replied simply, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning backwards.

Sakura's cheeks reddened. Wow, that was unexpected. She really didn't expect him to be a wanker, but then again, most boys were. Even Sasuke was one, but she had just assumed that because he was good looking, he could get laid whenever he wanted.

Sakura kind of liked having this conversation with Itachi. There was no tension of any type, besides them trying to get comfortable with each other, and he was very honest. She really admired that about him. They sat in silence for a few minutes more until Itachi quietly asked, "Are you?"

"Am I a what?"

"A virgin."

Sakura nodded. "Yup, I'm saving it."

Itachi hummed in thought. "For marriage?"

Sakura shrugged. "Maybe. I'm a bit of a conservative." Pausing, she questioned, "You don't think it's a good idea?" Itachi affirmed that statement. "Why not?"

"Unless your partner is very receptive to your needs, your first time will be dreadful. Many women expect it to be extremely romantic and wonderful, but they are often disappointed."

Sakura scoffed. "I'm sure you weren't like that your first time."

"On the contrary," he muttered. "I was frightfully awful. There were many, many complaints about my technique."

Sakura clicked her tongue. "Well, I think it's best to wait anyway. No STDs, unwanted pregnancies, or any of that other bull crap."

"I suppose there are many positives to staying abstinent," Itachi acquiesced, finishing off his tea.

Sakura stood and thanked him for the tea. "It was nice," she informed him. She walked out, but Itachi called out her name.

"Wait, you forgot this!" Sakura turned around.

In his arms, he was holding a very fat, grumpy Omoni.

* * *

><p>Sakura walked into Tsunade's office extremely nervous. She was afraid she might be in trouble or something. She swore that she didn't want to take the guy's appendix out, she had to! It was inflamed and ready to burst! What else could she have done?<p>

However, it turned out to be the "or something."

Tsunade was beaming at her when she came in the room. Sakura stared around her. "What's going on?" Sakura asked slowly.

"Sakura, I have some good news," Tsunade boomed, grabbing the young woman's shoulders.

"And some bad news?" Sakura finished.

"No, just good news." Tsunade took a deep breath. "My teacher has accepted to train you for three months."

Sakura's eyes brightened. "Are you serious?" she whispered, her fingers touching her lips. Her heart felt as if it had stopped beating. This was the biggest opportunity of her life. She would be able to go to study and train with Tsunade's very own teacher. Seeing as Tsunade was amazing, Sakura knew that her teacher must have been something else. Tsunade nodded vigorously, shaking the girl.

"Now, I know it may be hard to make a decision right now, but-"

"I'll go," Sakura said immediately, her mind already made up.

"Are you sure? If you need more time-"

"No, I'm sure. I just need a few days to arrange things," Sakura explained, her grin spreading from ear to ear. Tsunade just sighed and embraced the girl tightly, trying not to suffocate her with her bosoms.

"I'm so proud of you!" she exhaled, and she truly meant it. Sakura had gone through so many changes, and here she was, going off to get stronger and possibly surpass her. Nothing could excite her more, not even Naruto becoming Hokage. They pulled away, and Sakura saw that tears were streaming down Tsunade's face.

"I'll do my best," she promised her teacher.

Tsunade sniffed. "I know you will," she choked, kissing Sakura on the forehead.

* * *

><p>Words: 1594<p>

possibly the most awkward chapter i've ever written.

Question of the day: Do you keep a diary?


	52. Arrangements

"...and that's why I need you to take care of Omoni for me," Sakura finished, nervously grinning at her neighbor.

Itachi glowered intensely, wrinkles forming on his forehead. "Three months?" he whispered slowly, his nails digging into his palms.

"That's right. Three months."

Itachi nearly said no, his utter hatred of the cat undermining any sort of care or feelings of friendship he had built with Sakura. However, he looked at her pleading eyes. She had already asked Ino and Naruto, and there was no one else she trusted with him. Her lip jutted out childishly, and Itachi felt guilty that he was to say no.

"...very well," he sighed, his body slumping in defeat. Sakura squealed and hugged him.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou so much!" She planted a kiss on his cheek and informed him that she would bring Omoni's things over.

Itachi was simply frozen in place.

* * *

><p>Words: 146<p>

Q of the Day: Did you cry at Toy Story 3?

I did, once. However, my bawling and sobbing lasted about twenty minutes...


	53. Parting

The white-haired woman stopped walking. She heard badly concealed footsteps coming from behind her. Her stalker's heart was racing; he was clearly nervous. She gripped her spear, clenching it tightly.

She whipped around and prepared to defend herself. When she saw her attacker's face, she blanched. She tried to reason with him, she begged him to stop, but he wouldn't.

And now he was on the ground, a spear through his heart.

Fear, sadness, and guilt ran through the woman. She couldn't control her shaking. Taking her weapon out of her friend, she ran and did not look back.

* * *

><p>"You're leaving?" Ino screeched, pulling at her hair.<p>

"Just for three months," Sakura said calmly. "You'll live, pig." Ino pouted at the nickname.

"Forehead, why? Aren't you already an Amazon?"

Sakura shrugged. "It's Shishou's teacher. If she's amazing enough to make Shishou that strong, then there's probably some hope for me."

Ino just sighed. "Whatever, forehead. Just don't kill yourself."

Sakura scowled and punched her friend in the arm. "I'm not that weak."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Sakura woke up at five o'clock sharp. She was too excited to sleep in today. She spied Omoni curled up at the edge of her bed. She thought it to be strange because he usually wasn't present, but that was all right. She enjoyed the company. She pet his belly gently, and he groaned in delight.<p>

Sakura quickly took a shower and got dressed. She made sure her fridge was empty and that all the lights were turned out. Shouldering her backpack, she picked up Omoni with ease and walked over to Itachi's place. Knocking on the door, she waited at least five minutes for him to descend the stairs and answer her. She grimaced when she saw him. He definitely wasn't a morning person.

"Here's Omoni; take good care of him for me," she said with a smile, handing him the obese creature. Itachi blinked once, twice.

"You're leaving today?" he asked dumbly. Sakura nodded vigorously. The man scratched his head then extended his arms to take Omoni from the young woman. Omoni, surprisingly, struggled. Shrieking, hissing, and thrashing wildly, he protested this change.

"Be a good boy, Omoni!" Sakura scolded, and the cat became still, obviously grumpy. Itachi opened his mouth to say something, but Sakura cut him off. "I'll see you in three months. Don't forget to feed him."

"I really don't think that will be a problem."

Sakura scowled at him but waved him goodbye as she strolled down her path.

Omoni mewled sadly as he watched her go.

* * *

><p>Words: 430<p>

Q of the Day: How much do you love your pets?


	54. Watch my Back

Sasuke turned red with rage. "What do you mean she's going to go training?" he hissed at Naruto.

Naruto sighed, and his shoulders slumped. "Sasuke, it's five in the morning. Can't this wait-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he yelled, causing Naruto to scowl.

"It 's none of your business!" Naruto snapped. "God, you're not even dating anymore."

"That wasn't my choice," Sasuke retorted, a vein popping out on his neck.

Naruto just shook his head. "Get outta here before I get Hinata to beat your ass." Then he slammed the door in Sasuke's face.

* * *

><p>Sakura, trembling in excitement, began talking rapidly with the gatekeeper while waiting for Tsunade and her parents to arrive. When they started approaching, her face brightened up, and she waved.<p>

Sakura's parents quickly ran to her. Sakura's father was comically tearing up, teeth yanking at a hankie. "I can't believe you're going off so soon!" he blubbered. "You should have told us earlier!" He buried his face into his wife's shoulders, shoulders shaking with sobs.

Sakura's mother chuckled and sighed, patting her husband's back. "Are you sure you want to do this, Sakura?" Sakura nodded, a determined look on her face. Smiling, Sakura's mother kissed the crown of her forehead. "My sweet little girl," she crooned fondly, embracing her daughter. "Be careful," she said sternly. "Remember that we love you."

"I will."

"I mean it."

"So do I," Sakura replied. She glanced at her teacher.

Tsunade huffed proudly. "Sakura, go get'm."

Sakura smirked. "Yes, ma'am."

They all watched her back as she walked out of the gates.

* * *

><p>Words: 263<p>

Q of the Day: Are you a male or female?

I am obviously female.

I honestly don't expect to have any male readers, but if you are one, please prove me wrong, haha.

AND OHMYGOD I HAVE 800 REVIEWS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I read each and everyone of them, and I love each one of you to death.

I remember it being 300, and then all of a sudden it was 800. It's like there was no transition.


	55. Land of Water

Sakura exhaled.

The Shinora clan, the place where her new master was residing, was extremely close to Kirigakure. In fact, it was right to the left of the border, barely outside of it. At most, it was twenty miles away.

She remembered that there had been problems with their government as of late. Yagura, apparently, was in failing health, and his advisor Tobi was going to take over. Sakura shrugged. That place was practically a lost cause anyway. A regime change probably wouldn't save it.

Sakura was in the fifth day of her travels, and as she neared the Land of Water, goose bumps from the increasing chill were appearing on her arms. Rubbing them briskly, she let out a shudder before quickening her pace. Tsunade said it would be cold, but Sakura hadn't thought she meant this cold!

Feeling something wet sting her nose, Sakura blinked twice before looking up. Tiny orbs of white were floating down from the sky. "Are you kidding me? It's snowing now?" she shrieked, grabbing fistfuls of her hair. Dropping her sack, she quickly pulled out a light coat and started to run toward her destination, realizing she was not well equipped for this trip.

A few hours later, with Sakura sprinting and then some the whole time, she came across a line of redhead men, straight backed and tall. They were a wall of guards. She slowed her pace, eventually settling into a light jog. "I am Haruno Sakura," she stated, bowing to the center guard. He returned the gesture.

"Haruno Sakura, do you have your passport?" he inquired, his hand waiting.

Nodding, Sakura dug through her bag and whipped out her passport. The man took it from her immediately and began flipping through the pages, verifying that she was indeed Haruno Sakura. He performed a couple of hand seals, then made motions to his fellow guards.

"Thank you," he said, handing her passport back. "I will escort you to the gates. You must be freezing."

Sakura smiled. "Thank you."

Briskly walking, they made no idle chat, and Sakura was grateful for that. She was much too nervous to speak at the moment. As her attention drifted, she was surprised when she walked straight into the guard's arm. She looked up at him, befuddled. Why had they stopped? There was nothing here. "A moment please." The guard quickly executed a jutsu, and Sakura's vision blurred.

Rubbing her eyes, she tried to make the discrepancies in her vision go away. She opened her eyes.

Her jaw hit the ground. In front of her were the gates to a small palace.

"Welcome," the guard said, "to the Shinora Compound."

* * *

><p>Nova, bro, you literally made my day.<p>

Words: 444

Next Update: Wednesday

Q of the Day: How do you feel about MASASHI KISHIMOTO MAKING TOBI OBITO?

I mean, it was obvious, but it didn't make sense. I'm upset at his choice. Grrr.


	56. The Start of Something Big

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

Warning: All characters in this chapter besides Sakura will be OCs. If that bothers you, well, suck it up or don't read it. It's not gonna change because there's no way I can possibly put canon characters in this and have it make sense. This story arc'll last about three-five chapters because the chapters are going to be ultramegasuper long.

* * *

><p>Sakura was rendered speechless. The gates opened, and the guard politely ushered her inside.<p>

"Holy shit," she mumbled underneath her breath. As she entered the compound, she saw that the majority of the inhabitants had red hair and brown eyes. A shudder went up her back when she realized that they had probably inbred a lot and very closely.

The guard started spouting off information about the infrastructure, the history of the clan, all of which she was too shocked to listen to. She vaguely noticed them stopping, and the guard informing her that she should wait there for somebody to come get her. Sakura nodded, still looking around her. The small palace was in the middle of the compound while she was in the outskirts. She figured that that was where all the important people were. The rest of the residencies were elaborate houses in a traditional style.

Suddenly, Sakura felt a small hand on her rump. Turning around slowly, her fist clenching in anger, she saw a small old man smiling to himself, humming a tune. He hadn't moved his hand.

"Good, good," he muttered to himself, nodding his head. "Firm, yet soft. Just the way I like it."

Sakura slapped his hand away. "Excuse me," she bit out. At the moment, it was as polite as she could manage.

The little man beamed at her. "You must be Haruno Sakura."

"Yes, I am," she huffed, crossing her arms. Her anger had heated her so much that she didn't even feel the cold anymore.

"Very well. Come with me. I will bring you to my wife."

Sakura nearly hit him at that. He had a wife? Oh, God. She would beat this man if she had the chance.

The house was large, but there weren't many people living in it. Only a couple of maids strolled around. She stepped on something squishy. Looking down, she retracted her leg in horror when she realized it was a mouse. It was alive. It scurried away, squeaking in fright.

"Oh, Tama, bringing in the mice again," the old man said, clucking his tongue. "Sorry, my wife's cat has a fondness for rodents."

Sakura nodded, still feeling the tiny creature on her foot. She was lucky Omoni never did that. Then again, Omoni was too fat to actually catch anything.

They walked out into a room where the sliding doors were open. There was an elderly woman sitting on the steps, a young man by her side.

"Honey," the geezer sang. "Your student is here."

The elderly woman and the man turned around.

Holy shit, that guy was hot. Sakura shook the thought from her head. She instead looked at her teacher.

"Welcome," her master said. "I am Byakuya." The young man helped Byakuya stand. "Haruno Sakura, I feel you have the right to know this." Sakura nodded, and the woman took a deep breath. "Your training will only last three months because I am dying." Sakura's heart stopped in her chest. "Thus, we need to fit in a training schedule meant to last two years into three months. You will need to work very, very hard."

"I am ready," Sakura said honestly, her muscles tensing.

Byakuya nodded. "Good. In addition to my training, you will have the chance to train with my husband as well."

Sakura blanched.

The woman turned to her husband. "Be nice, Hapinara."

He stuck his lip out. "Stubborn, old witch."

* * *

><p>That one hot guy brought Sakura up the stairs, revealing that there were almost four more stories.<p>

"The second floor is our hospital. The third floor is where the bedrooms are."

"How does Byakuya get up there?" Sakura asked timidly.

The hot guy smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, I have to carry her."

Sakura's eyes softened. "You take care of her, don't you?"

"Yes, but it's the least I could do. She always took care of me so now it's my turn."

Sakura understood.

Sakura woke up at four AM sharp due to the obnoxious rapping on her door. Groaning, she dragged herself out of bed and opened her door. The hot guy (Saobi, she had found out) was at her door, a giant pile of clothes in his hands. "Here," he said nonchalantly. "It's time to wake up. You'll need these."

Sakura looked at him as if he were insane. "Now? And my clothes are fine, thanks!" she said irritably, preparing to slam the door in his face. The man sighed.

"Autumn has just ended. It'll be winter in about two weeks. Trust me," he thrust the clothes at her. "You want these."

Sakura snatched them away from him and closed the door.

"Oh, and Byakuya wants you downstairs and ready to go by four thirty."

* * *

><p>Words: 790<p>

Note: To all who are frustrated that Itachi and Sakura aren't together yet, well, I guess that's too bad. I feel obligated to let all of my readers know that my priorites in novel length stories go like this:

1. Plot

2. Characterization

3. Romance

Romance (most of the time) is never on the top of my list unless it's a oneshot. So if y'all are looking for a cheesy, sappy romance, you should stop reading because that shit's not happening (ITS GONNA BE PRETTY UBER INAPPROPRIATE AND REALISTIC-EE). This is not to say I won't take criticism. I do tend to forget about romance, so I made need a gentle push in that direction sometimes kinda like "MISSMOCHA HURRY UP AND HAVE THEM MAKE BABIES ALREADY GOSH YOU TAKE SO LONG"

So all of you, if you have some concritt, let it rip. Honestly. Go ahead. I won't take all of your advice, but it will be in my brain while I finish this. (And yes, I do have this mapped out for the most part.)


	57. Oh, snap!

Jesus Christ, how was it possible to be this cold? Sakura shivered in her flimsy clothes (comparatively) , and Byakuya looked at Sakura with a stern eye.

"Sakura, if you are cold, then you should go change," she said.

"No!" Sakura snapped. "I can handle this. This is no big deal."

Byakuya stared at her for a moment more and sighed, shaking her head. "Young people, always so stubborn. Tsunade said the same thing as you." She continued to rock in her rocking chair.

Sakura scoffed. "I'm sorry, but Byakuya-sensei, how is this training?" Byakuya stared at Sakura washing the family's clothes.

"It's not; our clothes just needed to be washed." Sakura gasped, her face an embarrassed red.

She trembled violently, then said, "I'll be right back." She then headed upstairs to change.

Byakuya grinned as her student left. "They always do that."

* * *

><p>"Now," Byakuya started. "Let us begin."<p>

"For real this time?" Sakura asked cautiously, not wanting to do common family chores.

Byakuya smiled and nodded. "Yes, 'for real this time.' Today, we are going to begin with transplants." With that said, she beckoned Saobi over.

He was carrying a large jar of eyeballs.

Sakura blinked a few times. "What?" she finally asked, her voice cracking.

"Today, we are going to implant these eyes into five of the Shinora clansmen," Byakuya explained. "Now, I know Tsunade probably taught you how to do transplants, but this is different. You must first sever the patient's eyeball, but you cannot sever the chakra path. If you do that, these eyes become useless."

"Why?"

"These eyes have chakra still flowing through them because of our kekkei genkai. However, if the chakra path does not exist, the patient won't be able to access the kekkei genkai, and the eye will become a normal eye. You must also finish the procedure in less than ten minutes. Understood?"

Sakura nodded her head. "Good. Saobi?" Saobi sighed and yelled out some orders.

The next thing Sakura processed was that there were over twenty cadavers being carried in the room.

Byakuya handed the jar of eyeballs to Sakura. "These are practice. Get to it."

Sakura had to contain her disgust as she reached into the jar and started on cadaver number one.

* * *

><p>It had taken her thirteen tries, but Sakura had made perfect transplants on twenty cadavers and could now do it consistently. Byakuya sat in her rocking chair, knitting.<p>

"Good work, Sakura. Now, we will go to the hospital, and you will perform the surgeries. I will introduce you to the clansmen." She shakily stood out of her chair and took Saobi's outreached arm, the other hand on her cane. Slowly, (very, very slowly) they made their way up the stairs to the hospital.

"I have a question," Sakura informed her.

"Fire away," Byakuya said warmly, a bit out of breath.

"Why can't they just access the kekkei genkai on their own? I was under the impression that that was how bloodlines worked."

Her teacher sighed irritably, her grip on Saobi's arm intensifying. "In the past century, only one of ours clansmen has accessed the bloodline on his own. He had it from birth, but he was also blind from birth." Byakuya caught her breath before continuing. "I don't know if we are just too heavily evolved to access it anymore, or if the clan has just become too lazy."

"I think it a bit of both," Saobi added.

"Very, very true," Byakuya chuckled bitterly. "Anyway, our bloodline is near useless in battle anyway, unless you work extremely diligently at it. It's nothing like other eye techniques. It is merely used a symbol of status nowadays. Only the rich or the nobles have it."

Sakura frowned at that. So basically, these operations were for nothing? They made their way to the top of the stairs.

There were five men with similar scowls on their faces. "What took you so long?"one snapped, his face a blotchy red.

"I was teaching my apprentice how to perform the transplants," Byakuya calmly explained, not even looking at the man. Saobi and Sakura helped her up the last step, exhaling one they had gotten her up the stairs safely.

"Wow," one of the men said. "She's quite the looker."

"Maybe brother is looking for his next wife," another laughed, causing Sakura to frown. What the hell were they talking about?

"Why don't you back off?" Saobi spat.

"Know your place, little vermin!" a man said, drawing his sword.

It soon escalated into a yelling match, and Sakura started to become angry. Her fists clenched at her sides, her teeth ground together, and-

"Stop!" she roared, stomping a hole in the floor. Byakuya gave a low whistle. All the men stopped. "Behave or no one gets a transplant today!"

"But-"

"No," she murmured dangerously. "Now, who wants to go first?"

The youngest one shyly raised his hand, and Sakura ushered him into the check up room, glaring at all the others as she slammed the door shut.

"She is feisty," Byakuya mentioned to Saobi. "I like her."

* * *

><p>Sakura laid on her bed after a long day of overexerting herself. She had successfully performed the surgeries, though only one of the men had thanked her. She was glad it was over.<p>

Byakuya had handed her a schedule earlier. She was to do one every single day, and Sakura groaned at the thought of it. She would have to deal with a bunch of rich, spoiled brats every single day.

Biting her lip, she decided that she would just deal with it. Turning off the lights, she let herself drift into a deep, deep sleep.

* * *

><p>Sasuke mentally groaned as he saw the chipper nurse beam at him.<p>

"Uchiha Sasuke, it is time for your physical. Please wait for Dr. Daru in Exam room B." He nodded and didn't bother to thank her. He knew what was coming.

The annual prostate exam.

He had just come from a clan meeting (the third one that week!), not able to pay attention for the impending anticipation of the prostate exam. No, Sasuke was not excited. He was absolutely terrified. His father had kept nudging him in the sides as Sasuke squirmed like a four year old who just could not sit still.

Sasuke sat on the table, tapping his heel against the base. Dr. Daru came in the room and smiled at him. "Uchiha Sasuke?" he asked, looking at his forms.

Sasuke simply nodded.

The doctor went over all the usual things, weight, height, etc. Sasuke couldn't really pay attention.

Daru looked at him with sympathy. "Now, I apologize, Sasuke-san, but you know what's coming next." Sasuke swallowed shakily. "Drop your pants," Daru said, slipping on some latex gloves.

Begrudgingly, Sasuke did as he said and leaned over the exam table.

"Very well, let's st-" Daru did not finish his sentence.

"What?" Sasuke bit out, his anxiety getting to him.

"Sasuke-san, do you have a tramp stamp?"

Sasuke turned red. "What?" he spat. "Of course I don't!" Daru looked at him long and hard.

Then he opened the door slightly and said to the nurse, "Can Jiraya-sama to Exam Room B, please."

"What?" Sasuke yelled incredulously. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Sasuke-san, please look in the mirror behind you. Look at your back."

Sasuke did as he was told angrily. "I don't see why-" his voice caught in his throat.

Right above his buttocks was a small, black tattoo. The blood drained out of his face.

It was a seal.

* * *

><p>Words: 1255<p>

Hey, I've uploaded two new stories. You should check them out. One's called Pretend and the other is Inappropriate. (shameless self promoting)

Q of the Day: If you are a senior in high school or in college, what did you write your college essays on?

I'm writing mine on my excessive daydreaming.


	58. Interlude

Kind of a break from all the serious stuffs going on. An interlude, if you will.

* * *

><p>Omoni lied on the couch, down in the dumps. Itachi frowned at this. He had not been eating. This stupid feline had spent almost all of its time at Itachi's home before, but now that Sakura was gone, it was depressed? It baffled Itachi. Truly, it did. It wouldn't eat.<p>

IT WOULDN'T EAT.

Every day, he would come home from his mission, and the cat would be curled up in the middle of the couch, not willing to move. Occasionally, it would allow Pablo to snuggle up next to him, but there were mainly hisses and warning meows.

He looked in his mail. With delight, he realized that Sakura had sent him a letter. She had promised him that she would keep him updated.

Opening it, he shoved Omoni to the side and read it silently.

_Dear Itachi,_

_My training has been fruitful and disgusting. I know it has only been one week, but...it has been extremely unpleasant here. Every day, I must deal with spoiled brats and replace their eyes. They have very weird customs here._

_And it is freezing now. It's almost unbearable when I go outside._

_Byakuya is a very strict teacher. I must wake up at four thirty every single day. I then wash her clothes, and we begin practicing medical techniques on cadavers. Then I perform surgeries and do other various chores around on the house. Her husband has been teaching me various things as well, and there is this guy Saobi-_

Itachi's throat clenched up. It couldn't be. He was supposed to be dead. He continued reading, wanting to see if it was the same one.

_-who helps Byakuya all the time. It's really sweet, actually. Now how is my baby Omoni? Itachi, read this out loud to him. He guessed not, then. Saobi wasn't like that._

Itachi cleared his throat and averted his eyes in embarrassment, rubbing his temples. "Very well," he replied.

"Omoni, sweet baby cakes, this is Sakura."

Omoni perked up.

"Mommy misses you a lot. Did you know that?"

Omoni meowed in response.

This continued for twenty minutes.

* * *

><p>Words: 348<p>

Q of the Day: Are you a feminist?

I am and proudly.


	59. Cliffies

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Warning: Some confusing stuff up ahead.

* * *

><p>Sakura was freezing. This was nothing new. However, training with barely anything on was something very, very new.<p>

"Now, Sakura," Hapinara began. "You must try to control yourself."

"This is not normal!" Sakura screeched, trying to keep still. "You stupid little pervert."

Hapinara exhaled, shaking his head. "Patience is a virtue, Sakura-chan. If you are able to meditate quietly for five minutes, you will be able to go inside. I have already told you this."

"Well, it's stupid! It's impossible!" Sakura seethed, shivering violently.

Hapinara pouted. "And here I was told your chakra control was perfect."

"It is!" retorted Sakura.

Hapinara smiled at her. "Well, I suppose you'll be out here until it kicks in, won't you?"

And with that he left.

Sakura screamed in rage.

* * *

><p>Sakura finally managed to complete her task in ten minutes, not wanting to freeze to death. Quickly dressing herself, she ran back down the stairs to meet Byakuya.<p>

The elderly woman was in her rocking chair, gently caressing her cat's head. Sakura immediately thought of Omoni and frowned sadly. She missed her baby so much.

"What are we doing today?" she said, sauntering up to Byakuya.

Byakuya was silent for a minute, breathing in and out deeply. Sakura was confused at first, but upon studying her teacher's features, she realized that the woman was in pain. Her breathing was labored, her brows were furrowed, and her lips were pursed in a tight grimace.

"Sensei," Sakura whispered softly. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Chuckling lightly, Byakuya shook her head. "I'm sorry, child."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing at all. There isn't much time left," Byakuya rasped, caressing her cat's head. Her hands were shaking. "We must accelerate your training. I will not last much longer."

Sakura bit down on her lower lip, her eyes cast to the floor. She really shouldn't have complained. Byakuya had taken her with heavy consideration. The last weeks of her life were dedicated to training Sakura. She had to work harder and complain less.

Byakuya simply smiled. "Sakura, don't worry so much. I may be old as dirt, but I remember what it was like to be young. It's always difficult. I'd rather be dead than be young again."

"...that's not a funny joke."

"I thought it was." Clearing her throat, Byakuya said, "Saobi received from letters from Konoha that were addressed to you. I believe he's up in his room right now."

"Thanks."

* * *

><p>Sakura went to Saobi's room, finding that he wasn't there. Seeing a pile of letters on his desk, she figured she would just go through and find hers. Taking hers out of the pile, she put it out of her mind when she saw letters addressed to people named Haruna and Tobi.<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey, Rudy, did you hear?" Shinta said, taunting Rudy, in his drunken stupor, by poking him repeatedly in the cheek.<p>

"About what?" Rudy asked, slapping Shinta's hand away.

"They found a white haired beauty's corpse. She was washed up onto the shore," Shinta drawled, smirking. "I hear it was Torino."

"Shut up!" Rudy roared, shoving the other man down and pointing his spear at his neck. "Bring her up again, and I'll kill you!"

"You know I hear she fucked the Uchiha good and well-"

"You fucking bastard, I warned you-"

"Rudy!" a booming voice called out. "That's enough." Tobi stood at the doorway, casually crossing his arms. Walking to Rudy, he put a hand on the young man's shoulder, causing him to tense up. "I know Torino's betrayal has saddened us all, but the Mizukage needs us in his failing health. Try not to bicker amongst yourselves."

Rudy just glowered at Tobi until he left.

* * *

><p>Sakura's heart skipped a beat as she saw that there was a letter from Sasuke. She resisted the urge to crumple it up and throw it out, but she decided to give him one chance. After all, it couldn't be that bad.<p>

Oh, how she wished that for once she could be right.

* * *

><p>Words: 669<p>

Next Update: LOLIDK

Sorry for the long wait guys. I've been super busy. And I know I left, like, three million cliffhangers there. Sorry, but not really.

Question of the Day: What is your favorite manga/anime?

Mine is a close tie between Durarara! and NG life.


	60. Of Letters and Conspiracies

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never have, never will.

* * *

><p>"Oh, this is bad," Jiraya hummed, looking at the seal on Sasuke's back.<p>

"What is it?" Sasuke snapped, embarrassed at his situation.

"Oh, be quiet," Jiraya said flippantly, waving a hand at the boy. "This is very, very bad."

"What?"

"This seal can pick up on noises around it, meaning the people controlling the seal have heard every word any person around you has said. It is highly likely that they can hear even this."

Sasuke blanched.

"You haven't been to any important meetings lately, have you?"

Gulping, Sasuke nodded. "I have. Clan meetings."

* * *

><p><em>Dear Sakura,<em>

_I sincerely hope your training has been going well. You deserve it, after all Team Seven has put you through._

Heh, he got at least that right.

_I eagerly await your return. It has been too long._

Shit, the language he was using.

_I have missed seeing your face every day. Your smile used to brighten any day, no matter how bad it was, no matter how horrible things had been_.

She smelled the alcohol off the letter.

_Please, Sakura, my love, give me another chance. I can protect you. I swear I can-_

Sakura crumpled up the letter and threw it in the trash, fuming. Who the fuck did he think he was? This was the same thing- he just expected her to smile for him, to be his pretty little flower.

It still hurt.

Sakura was shocked at that fact. It fucking hurt! His stupid patronizing felt so belittling, and she already felt like her training had done nothing. She would still be the weak link. Always. This was why it sucked to be a kunoichi; every single man would think of nothing but protecting you. It was...

Choking back the tears and biting her lip so hard it bled, she opened Ino's letter next.

She received more news about Sasuke.

Apparently he had turned into the village alcoholic in the past few weeks, having been suspended from any shinobi work, and he had obtained a eavesdropping seal above his butt from a woman he had slept with out of grief.

As if she wasn't feeling shitty enough. For the first time in a long time, Sakura let go and just cried.

This was all her fault.

* * *

><p>After drying her tears, Sakura began to write back to Ino, sniffling the whole way through. She held everything back, not wanting her friend to know that her heart was shattering. She sent her friend one of their interesting "Ice Perfumes." They had a very pleasant, icy smell to them in a way that Sakura could not describe.<p>

She quickly read her parents' letter, eyeing the tear stains that were undoubtedly from her father and the smell of cigarettes that were undoubtedly from her mother; she smiled at the homey feeling. She wrote back excitedly, her tears almost dry.

Surprised, she found that she had one more letter.

"Itachi?" she croaked out loud, wiping her nose.

She wouldn't lie- she was excited to read his letter, and she had no idea why.

Ripping it open, she smiled as she saw the familiar, neat handwriting.

_**Dear Sakura,**_

_** I hope you are well. I am relatively well. I have had the strangest lack of missions lately, leaving me at home with Pablo and Omoni.**_

_** I must say that I am not fond of cadavers. I had to take a basic medical class when I was fourteen, and that was all the class had. Many of them were at least ten days old so the stench of rotting corpses filled my mind for days later. **_

_** I don't know how on earth you can wake up so early. Such an ungodly hour!**_

**_ If I am correct, the Shinora use their eyes as a symbol of status. However, I am an old acquaintance of the clan head, and she does not have them. If you have the time, you should meet her; she is a very inspirational girl._ **

Sakura's mouth dropped. What? How could it be? She had thought that this was a male dominated clan, but the leader was a woman. Impossible! She made a note to herself to ask Saobi about that.

_** I have heard that the Shinora also practice polygamy. If you have the chance, you should meet the other half of the clan. Haruna's mother, I believe, was part of that half of the clan. (Of course, Haruna herself knows nothing of her heritage; she says she is not interested in those "creepy bastards.") They typically live below the poverty line, and they would very much appreciate your patronage. They make exquisite clothing and arts. **_

_** I look forward to seeing your new skills when you arrive home. We should engage in a sparring match.**_

**_ Love,_ **

Sakura's heart skipped a beat, and her face warmed, along with her ears.

_** Itachi.**_

_** P.S. I am under the impression that Omoni misses you. He has been losing weight due to his disinterest in food. Come back soon- safely, of course.**_

"I will," she whispered. "Thank you." Her lips curled up in a smile. "Thank you, Itachi."

* * *

><p>In her mind, she heard the words, You are welcome.<p>

Somewhere in the Land of Water, the Third Mizukage was no longer able to move; only his advisor Tobi was allowed to speak with him.

Somewhere in the Shinora household, a message was received saying, "Prepare to move."

Somewhere in the outskirts of Fire Country, a white haired woman was found, collapsed on the ground.

Somewhere in Kirigakure, Mei Terumi woke up and prepared to move out.

* * *

><p>Words: 914<p>

Q OF THE DAY: WHAT IS YOUR DREAM OCCUPATION?

MISSMOCHA77 OUT!


	61. Excessive Cliffhangers and Foreshadowing

Sakura asked Saobi to take her to see the other half of the clan the next day, and he was surprisingly hesitant about it. He had eventually agreed, but she wondered what had been his reason for hesitation.

They walked along a twisted dirt path, and Sakura noticed that with each progressive house, they were getting less and less elegant until they stumbled onto a cluster of wood huts and tents made of animal skin.

There was a bustling market, but it was anything but full of life. All the people looked tired and worn down. Their clothes were torn and dirty, and there was a clear difference between the main house of the Shinora and this one. These people were darker skinned and had black hair and blue eyes. There was a greater variety of looks than with the main house (where everybody looked like siblings), making it clear that they didn't participate in nearly as much incest.

"Young lady," an elderly woman beckoned Sakura, causing her to look back at her. "Why don't you come here and discover your future?"

Saobi gave Sakura a look that screamed "NO," but Sakura shrugged and smiled. "Okay," she chirped, trotting over to the woman.

"For a price," the woman clarified.

"But of course," Sakura moaned, reaching for her wallet.

"Thank you. Let me see your palm."

Sakura did as she was told, and the fortuneteller lightly grasped Sakura's hand in hers, running her fingers over Sakura's palm.

Her eyes grew wide, and she inhaled sharply, startling Sakura. She twitched at the suddenness. "Is everything...all right?"

The fortuneteller gave Sakura a toothless smile. "Your future is very, very interesting. Very interesting indeed."

Intrigued, Sakura leaned forward a bit. "What is it?"

Saobi gulped. "I think Byakuya wants us back soon."

"You are going to be part of a movement to change the world as we know it!" The elderly woman said excitedly, tightly holding Sakura's hand. "You'll be a major force in helping liberate an entire nation! Also, someone you trust will betra-"

"Sakura," Saobi whispered nervously. "It's time for us to get back."

Sadly, Sakura pouted her lips and hung her head. "Sorry, I have to go."

The woman gave Sakura a toothless grin. "Oh, come back some other time if you can. I'd love to learn your name."

Sakura gave her a small wave before catching up with Saobi.

* * *

><p>A young man barged into the room, panting wildly. A woman was lying on the bed snoring, sprawled out in an unseemly manner. A blush came to his face.<p>

"Mei-san!"

Mei snorted a few times before awaking completely. "What do you want, Chojuro?"

"We have just received word that Torino was captured in the outskirts of the Land of Fire and is being taken to Konoha," he reported, pushing up his glasses.

"Really? What else?"

"It has been confirmed that she did kill Takahiro, one of the seven mist mercenaries from Yagura's Army."

"Interesting. It seems Tobi is making his move. With Yagura almost out of the picture, he can divide this country even more." Suddenly, Mei stood up. "I'm going to go to Konoha."

Chojuro turned red. "WHAT?"

"I have to. Konoha may be willing to help, and plus-" her eyes narrowed. "-I have a score to settle with Torino."

Chojuro watched as she marched out the door, gaping.

"Mei-san, at least put some clothes on before you leave!"

* * *

><p>Words: 570<p>

Next Update: Tuesday

Hey guys, I know it's been a while. I have been participating in my school's musical and thus haven't been getting home until 9/10 at night so I couldn't update. Sorry.

Q of the Day: Do you use makeup? Why/why not?

I use it sometimes, but most of the time I value sleep over beauty. xD


	62. Making Peace

"Omoni, it is time to eat," Itachi muttered, but the cat showed no interest. It lazily swished its tail from side to side, staring at him. Itachi hummed in impatience and set the food down by Pablo. Now, when that occurred, Omoni quickly dashed from the shelf to his food bowl, not wanting Pablo to eat it.

Chuckling to himself, Itachi was fascinated at how that always worked.

Going to his kitchen table, he rifled through his letters, and he smiled when he discovered that Sakura had sent him a return letter.

**Dear Itachi,**

** I guess so. Training is really hard, but I'd say it's worth it. Ooh, how are Pablo and Omoni getting along? Do they fight?**

** They are just...ugh. I am a medic and all, but seeing dead bodies like that still disgusts the shit out of me. Yet it still fascinates me to no end.**

** Now that I remember, you aren't a morning person at all. Haha, I don't think we'd mix well in the morning.**

Itachi's cheeks flamed. He'd be willing to make exceptions for certain activities...

**I am off to meet this Aya soon. My teachers have words of great praise about her, although this one man is quite nervous to have me meet her.**

** Oh, and the other day, I had my palm read by a fortuneteller from the poorer half of the clan. I went back today to buy some of their pretty clothes. She told me some really interesting stuff. I'll talk it over with you when I get home.**

** I look forward to our spar.**

** Sincerely, **

His heart died a bit at that.

**Sakura.**

**P.S. Don't let Omoni lose too much weight. I still want him fluffy.**

Leaning back in his chair, Itachi massaged his temples and let out a disappointed sigh. Not with Sakura, but with himself. He felt like a teenager again, with how stupid and immature he became when things involved her.

Turning to Omoni, he asked, "Does every man act this way around her?"

All he received was a look of condescension.

"Didn't think so."

* * *

><p>"Sensei, are you in pain?" Sakura inquired softly, removing her hands from the corpse to rub her sensei's back.<p>

Smiling, Byakuya nodded. "Don't worry, my dear. I'm a tough woman; I can handle this."

Sakura shook her head. "Still, it must be horrible."

Byakuya shrugged, forcing herself up. Taking her cane, she reprimanded, "Don't worry about me, Sakura. I have lived long enough. You need to focus on your training. Reattach that man's limb to his body, along with the chakra strings this time."

Nodding curtly, Sakura replied, "Yes, ma'am!"

It was hard to feel her way through his system, and she knew it'd be much more difficult if the patient was still alive. Tightening her hold on the arm in her hand, she closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. She sent waves of chakra into the arm to locate the severed strings.

With a jolt, she felt them, and she immediately went to work.

* * *

><p>"We're doing this again?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow. Hapinara skipped in a circle around her.<p>

"Yes," he chirped. "Except this time, you must make your own body heat. When you have ceased shivering for ten minutes, you will then go to sparring practice to work on your taijutsu."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Sakura questioned, her voice rising in pitch.

"Ah, that is for you to find out, not me. It is a matter of self," Hapinara hummed, pulling on the end of beard. "Well, good luck!" he sang cheerfully, slapping Sakura on the back. He then dashed away.

Sakura gaped at him leaving, her muscles tensing in anger. "Are you fucking kidding me? Come back here!" She screeched in anger before plopping down in the snow and assuming a meditating position. "This has got to be a joke!" she spat bitterly. "He can't really expect me to..." Huffing sharply, she decided she would at least try.

It got increasingly colder and colder, the frosty wind biting at her skin. She could not stop shivering. Squeezing her eyes shut, she activated her chakra to try and warm herself up. It didn't work.

Her body core temperature plummeted, and Sakura started shaking uncontrollably. Growing more and more frustrated with herself, she gritted down her teeth and sent out another powerful surge of chakra through her body. She tried technique after technique and still nothing worked.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" She cried out, pounding her fists on the ground. A hot tear trickled down her face, and she broke down sobbing. "Why can't I do anything right?"

Suddenly, she felt a warm hand patting her back. Sakura looked behind her, right into the eyes of a petite girl.

"You're doing Hapinara's exercise, aren't you?" the girl asked, kneeling down by Sakura.

Sakura nodded, then realized she was still crying. Laughing nervously, she tried to discreetly wipe away her tears. "Oh, goodness. That's so embarrassing." The girl, however, simply gave her a small smile. Sitting down next to Sakura, she took off her fur coat and placed it next to her. "What are you doing?" Sakura asked, skeptical.

"I'm going to help you."

Sakura tensed. "Why?"

The girl locked eyes with Sakura, and Sakura could not break away from her intense gaze. "Though, you are supposed to do this on your own, it is hard to do without guidance."

Sakura swallowed and shivered. "Well, thanks, I guess. I don't think I'll ever be able to do it."

"Why not?" the girl asked, floating her eyes closed.

"Well, I'm just not good enough."

"Why do you think that?"

Sakura scowled. "What are you, some sort of guru?"

The girl frowned. "Sakura," she began sternly. "Do you know how to achieve the perfect amount and flow of chakra to finish this exercise."

"Well, no."

The redhead exhaled deeply. "Peace."

Sakura sighed. "What about peace?"

"You must make peace with yourself."

Sakura's lips twisted. "I'm perfectly fine with myself," she protested.

"Clearly, you are not. Tell me, what is holding you back? Why aren't you good enough?"

Sakura felt as if someone had just stabbed her, and she really wanted to curl up in a little ball and waste away. "I could never measure up."

"To your teammates?"

"Not just them!" Sakura whispered. "Not just them... everybody. Every guy treats me as if I can't protect myself on the battlefield, but y'know what? It's true. I'm so fucking useless." Tears stung at her eyes, and she sniffed loudly.

The girl beside her was still, but it was clear that she was listening.

"I can't do anything right, anyway. My ex boyfriend-he was suspended because I broke up with him."

"How was it your fault?" the girl mumbled quietly, not shivering in the least. In fact, Sakura could feel heat radiating off of her.

"They failed a mission because he got so drunk because of me that he was seduced by a bad guy."

"Isn't that a fault of his, though?"

"Yes, but if I hadn't broken up with him..." The redhead looked at Sakura with a stern expression. Sakura's eyes widened. Was she...still in love with Sasuke? No, but she still held a little drop of that love in her. She continued. "He later sent me letter saying that he could protect me, and I don't know. Maybe I do need it after all."

"Sakura, how many times have you saved a man on the battlefield?"

Sakura was silent. She couldn't remember all the exact instances, but she knew it had been a lot. She constantly put her life on the line to heal somebody or get their ass out of danger. Was she ever thanked? No. Was that why she felt like she hadn't done anything? Perhaps, that was the reason. After all, men were treated like heroes when they saved somebody. They got all the recognition. It wasn't their fault; that's just how it was. However, more than a couple of times, when she was saved, the man thought he would get something- thought she would kiss their feet. They would then go on how she needed to be protected. Naruto used to do that so much, and Sasuke still did it all the time. It was...

Insulting. Just sickeningly insulting. And they expected the kunoichi to bend to their wishes after that, thinking they were some kind of fucking hero.

No more.

Sakura swore she would get stronger, so she could kick Sasuke's ass when she got back, after painfully realizing that she was still attached to him, still held an inkling of love for him. That couldn't be. He didn't deserve it, and neither did she. She wasn't weak. She didn't need his protection, and she didn't need his love.

Sakura was strong.

Instantly, she felt warmth course throughout her body. Gasping, she realized that she had achieved the perfect amount and flow of chakra! "I did it!" she cried out, laughing wildly. Turning, she laughed. "Thank you-"

But the girl was gone.

She heard someone approaching her. She knew it was Hapinara, his footsteps were lighter than most.

"Well, Sakura-chan. You did it. With a little help from Aya-chan, of course." Sakura gasped. That had been the clan leader? Hapinara smiled broadly. "I'm so proud of you."

* * *

><p>The fortuneteller turned up her nose at the young man. "Why should I listen to you?"<p>

The man pulled on his curly locks in frustration. "I mean it, Kya. Don't ever tell her fortune again, even if she asks for it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What will you do if I do?"

Pulling out a knife, he pointed it at her throat. She just stared at him, no fear evident in her eyes. "You know what I will do."

* * *

><p>Words: 1635<p>

Next update: ahem.

Sorrysorrysorry for the long wait. I've been so busy, and there's boy trouble and writer's block and shit like that. Sorry! :(

This story will be picking up soon- yeah, I know it's the 62nd chapter. bite me. jk don't.

I'm gonna try to update more.

plz review.

stuff like that.

im done talking now.

okay bai


	63. Too much plot

Sakura's jaw dropped. "Could you repeat that please?" she whispered shakily.

"Your training has been completed," Byakuya said sternly, using a cane for support. "You have exceeded expectations, Sakura. I never imagined that you would actually be able to finish the curriculum in the time allotted."

Sakura still could not believe her ears. A tear formed at the corner of her eye. "Does this mean-"

Byakuya smiled, her eyes softening. "Yes, Sakura. You can go home."

* * *

><p>Ibiki rubbed his temples in frustration, trying not to burst in anger. "She has not revealed anything yet?" His subordinate shook his head crisply.<p>

"No. She refuses to say anything."

"What did you say her name was?" He flipped through the woman's profile. "Torino, a member of Yagura's army." Sighing, he got up from his desk, his jaw tight. "I will speak with her."

* * *

><p>The woman made no noise as Ibiki pushed her finger back, not even a grimace. She smiled and spat at him, causing Ibiki to scowl.<p>

"What are you doing here in Konoha?" he demanded, taking her wrist in his hand.

"I wasn't trying to come to Konoha," she retorted.

Ibiki tightened his grip around her wrist. "Did you defect?"

"None of your fucking business," she slurred, drops of blood spilling out of her mouth as she spoke.

One of the guards winced as an audible crack was heard. The abuse continued for thirty minutes until Ibiki had had enough. "Get a medic," he said sharply. "I'll be back tomorrow."

The woman just laughed. "You think you'll get anything out of me by treating me like this? Shut the fuck up; I had enough of this at home. And that seal on the Uchiha? It's impossible to break now."

Ibiki glowered at her. "I'll be back tomorrow," he repeated.

* * *

><p>Shisui giggled as he played with his son. Holding him up by the armpits, his son's legs lightly touched the floor. "Look at you," Shisui cooed. "Daddy's boy can walk." The baby giggled, and Enho sat on the couch, glaring at them with jealousy.<p>

"Daddy, when are we going to go fishing?"

Shisui gave his son a look. "It's too cold this week, Enho. We're going to have to wait until Daddy has some time off so we can go someplace warmer."

"But I'm bored!" Enho moaned, flopping around on the couch.

Haruna's grandmother took him by the hand. "Enho, no lo hagas. Vamos, we're going on walk," she said to Enho.

Shisui sighed as the two left. Finally, a moment of silence. Little Hari in his arms was quickly falling asleep so Shisui left him in his crib in his bedroom, wrapped loosely in a blanket. Suddenly, he felt callused hands covering his eyes, and he grinned.

"Haruna, don't be so naughty," he teased, reaching back and grabbing his wife by the waist. She kissed the crown of his forehead.

"I think you'll have to punish me," she laughed, and Shisui turned around to kiss her. As they finally started to share a rare moment alone, there was a screech at their window. Haruna grumbled in frustration at the hawk that was staring intensely at them. Walking over to snatch the letter, she gave the hawk a treat before it headed off.

Once she saw the name scribbled on the letter, the blood drained from her face, and she started to teeter to one side. Shisui gasped and ran to her side, holding her steady. The name on the letter made him frown deeply.

"Isn't he dead?"

* * *

><p>Rudy was securing his pack to his body, making sure it was tight enough. He heard the shuffle of footsteps. "You're not coming to the funeral?" Jun asked, his light eyes boring into Rudy's.<p>

"Nah," Rudy said flippantly. "I didn't like the old geezer anyway." Jun nodded, staring at Rudy's attire. Finally, he gathered up the courage to speak.

"Are you leaving, Rudy?"

Rudy looked at him over his shoulder. "See ya, kiddo."

He then dashed off into the snow.

* * *

><p>GAH NOT ENOUGH ITACHI AND SAKURA IN THIS CHAPTER I AM UPSET<p>

I PROMISE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE ALL SAKURA AND ITACHI AND PET ACTION I PROMISE

THE PLOT IS FINALLY PICKING UP AFTER 60 CHAPTERS

Words: 670

Next update: meh

Question of the day: Have you ever had a friend with benefits?

I don't have one. I do want one though...hehe. god, i'm a pervert.


	64. Negotiation

Tobi's nails dug into his palms. He looked at the young shinobi standing before him, no older than twelve years old. He was sweating and shaking uncontrollably.

"What do you mean Rudy's gone?" he asked, his voice low and reminiscent of violence.

The young boy gulped. "He's not anywhere to be found, s-sir. When you sent me to fetch him, his house was...not there anymore." Tobi's one good eye narrowed at the boy, demanding him to explain further. "It was burned to the g-ground, sir. All ashes."

Tobi cursed underneath his breath. "Leave," he hissed at the boy, and the boy, frightened beyond belief, concurred, dashing out of the room.

Looking out the window, Tobi remembered and cursed them all.

* * *

><p>"Sakura," Byakuya grunted. "Do you have everything you want or need?"<p>

Sakura nodded. "Yes, I definitely think I have enough souvenirs for everybody now!" Byakuya chuckled and tapped her cane.

"I'm glad," she said softly, looking at Sakura in a peculiar way. It did not go unnoticed.

"Is...something wrong, Byakuya-sensei?" Her teacher half smiled at her.

"It's just...my cat."

"Huh?"

Byakuya cleared her throat. "Since I will be leaving soon, Tama will have no home."

Sakura blanched when she realized where her teacher was going with this.

"Sakura, please do me a favor."

* * *

><p>After saying a long and lengthy goodbye to Byakuya and Hapinara, (Saobi was absent for some reason) Sakura headed out with Tama the cat in tow. Tama was very intelligent and seemed to realize that she had no other choice to go with Sakura. Still, the young medic kept the cat on a leash so she wouldn't run away. The black cat flicked her tail as they walked.<p>

Hours passed, and Sakura occasionally stopped to give Tama some water or food while taking a break herself. She vaguely noticed some chakra signatures following her but decided not to take action at the moment. She continued walking to Konoha. Tama had taken to sleeping on Sakura's shoulder peacefully, occasionally rubbing against her face.

Suddenly, Tama jolted awake and hopped off of Sakura's shoulder. She started hissing, and all the fur on her back was standing on end.

"Tama?" Sakura called out. Then she felt it. The two presences were now in the bushes. Narrowing her eyes, she yelled, "I know you're there. Come on out."

"Chojuro, you go out first!"

"What? Why m- ow!" A boy stumbled out of the bushes, rubbing the back of his head tenderly. His eyes met Sakura's, and to her surprise, he bowed deeply.

"We apologize for scaring you, young kunoichi. We are simply travelers-"

"Chojuro, don't lie," came a voice from the bushes, and a very attractive woman revealed herself. "We noticed that you are on the way to Konoha, and we were following you. For that, we are sorry."

Sakura waved her hand flippantly. "Oh, that's fine, I suppose. For what reason are you going?"

The woman frowned. "I'm afraid I couldn't tell you until we are out of the Land of Water. There are too many spies here." Sakura's eyes narrowed at that.

"What do you mean?"

The woman smiled. "I can't let my mission be compromised, sorry. Well, if we could trouble you for a moment, could you help us by giving us general directions to Konoha?"

Sakura's lips quirked. "You know what? Just come with me."

As Mei and Sakura quickly introduced themselves and became fast friends (while Mei held Chojuro out of Sakura's sights), a pair of dull, blue eyes watched them from the trees.

* * *

><p>Sasuke stared at the woman in the cell. Undoubtedly, she was the one who had seduced him, with her long, white hair bloodied and curling. Master Jiraya was in the cell speaking with her at the moment while Ibiki stood outside of the cell with Sasuke.<p>

"She has only said a few things of any importance since being in here. Are you sure it's her?" Ibiki asked gruffly.

Sasuke nodded. Even though her face was stained with blood and swollen with bruises, Sasuke knew. She was that girl. That girl that ruined everything.

* * *

><p>"Torino-san, I know this is a tough situation for you, but if you do not tell us anything today, we will be forced to execute you. Do you understand?" The woman looked at him with a glaringly icy eye. She was breathing hard, her anger and frustration welling up within her. Jiraya sighed. This would harder than with the average ninja. Jiraya noticed that she had again averted her eyes and had resigned herself to staring at the floor. With a sort of sadness, Jiraya noticed that this girl hadn't even been beautiful or gorgeous as was rumored when she was alive. She simply looked strange and exotic, maybe a little pretty.<p>

She wasn't alive because she hadn't answered any of his questions. Now, she was as good as dead.

Exhaling deeply, Jiraya slapped his hands on his knees. "Well, I suppose I won't be see-"

"Wait!" she cried out shrilly, and Jiraya stopped in his tracks.

"What is it, Torino-san?" he asked, bending down once more.

"You must release me and guarantee me anonymity," she stated sharply, her eyes piercing his. "If you promise that, I will tell you everything you want to know and more."

"You can promise that, Torino-san?" Jiraya whispered, his tone deep and serious.

Scowling, her face twisted in an ugly fashion. "Jin," she bit out. "It's Jin," she repeated, a terrifying expression on her face.

Jiraya nodded. "Let's start then, Jin."

* * *

><p>Itachi returned from a mission with Shisui. "Whoo!" Shisui whistled lowly. "Am I glad that's over."<p>

Itachi shook his head "yes" but did not reply. Shisui cast a strange glance at Itachi, but as soon as it was there, it was gone. Itachi squeezed his eyes shut. Perhaps he was just imagining things.

Walking home slowly, he remembered that Sakura would be coming home soon. His heart skipped a beat in his concealed excitement. Containing a blush, he eagerly thought of their promised spar. He couldn't wait to see how her skills had grown as a shinobi. Perhaps she'd beat him, he thought, smiling. He doubted it, but a man could dream, couldn't he?

Unlocking the door and pushing it open, he took off his shoes as Pablo eagerly greeted him. Kneeling down, he rubbed Pablo's belly until the dog got bored. Shoulders slumping, he smiled at a grumpy Omoni before heading up the stairs to take a shower. There was blood and grime in his hair, and that would not do.

As the hot water soothed his tired and worn body, Itachi leaned on the shower door. Breathing out, his perfect posture weakened. Running his hands through his short hair, he chuckled as he recalled his first reaction at his cut hair. He had panicked and had cursed Sakura, but now he was rather grateful for it. After all, it was easier to take care of, and dirt and blood did not catch in his locks nearly as often as it had used to.

Thinking back on it, Itachi had rather enjoyed the harmless pranks he and Sakura had played on each other. She had made him extremely frustrated, but it had been...fun, acting like a child for the first time. It was almost as if she brought out the worst part of him, but...that was okay. Sometimes the worst needed to be brought out. He couldn't always be polite, could he?

Itachi tried to push out thoughts of Sakura, but they prevailed. Her wavy pink hair that was always longer than his, her mischievous smile, the small curve of her back, beneath it an ebony tattoo of a butterfly...

Itachi turned the knob of the shower, and it was as if icy rain had started beating upon him.

* * *

><p>Did you get the ending? Oh, God don't make me say it plz. adsklhf;lasdkhf;<p>

Words: 1303

Next Update: Saturday I promise

Question of the Day:

Oh and if you're wondering what Itachi would look like with short hair I have drawn a SHOUJO ITACHI THAT IS SUPER CUTE. No, it's just a normal picture. (simply remove spaces)

missmocha77. deviantart art / Itachi-Shoujo-Version-347683043?ga_submit=10%3A1357785946


	65. Very long, got carpal tunnel

Sorry, I'm a day late! I hope the chapter makes up for it.

* * *

><p>After two days of walking and a short ferry trip, the trio had made it out of Water Country and into Wave country. Next, they would take the Great Naruto Bridge to get back to Fire Country.<p>

Mei, Chojuro, and Sakura had taken to camping outside. After all, it was cheaper, and between the three of them, it was very unlikely to be ambushed. Mei had sent Chojuro to catch some fish (he did so begrudgingly), and the two women leaned back on the trees to relax.

"Tomorrow," Sakura started. "I will try to find us a place to stay. I have some old friends here. They will probably give us lodging."

Mei grinned. "Well, that'd be nice. It'll be nice to sleep inside again." Sakura chuckled.

The mission in the land of waves eight years ago had been a little troublesome. It was said to be a C rank mission, but it was at least a B. Tazuna was being targeted by thugs sent by Gato. Eventually, Kakashi-sensei had disposed of Gato, and Tazuna was able to resume building the bridge without a hitch. Out of his gratefulness to Naruto for making Inari smile again, Tazuna named the bridge the Great Naruto Bridge. Sakura smiled at the memory. She wondered how Inari was doing now. He should have been around sixteen now.

Chojuro returned with the fish, and Mei demanded to know what had taken him so long. They proceeded to argue, and Sakura lightly laughed at their squabble, thinking of home.

* * *

><p>Rudy slept in the trees, never daring to move a muscle. He knew Terumi Mei would be on him like a hawk on its prey. For now, he would just follow the three of them. After all, Haruno Sakura was sure to know the way to Konoha better than he did. His dull eyes never once closed as he slept, though his eyes could not be seen through his thick, blonde lashes. His dreams were full of a bitchy woman who could never leave his thoughts, and he took her hand and never let go.<p>

* * *

><p>Saobi checked his room for the fifth time. He knew that he had all of his precious belongings, but he had spent so much time in this house that he was reluctant to leave behind all the memories that it held. Swallowing back a lump, he hopped through the window, only to be stopped by-<p>

"Where are you going, Saobi?"

He whipped around to face Byakuya who was sitting on the ledge of the house.

"Just out for a while," he lied easily, but Byakuya simply shook her head, pointing to his large pack and his boots.

"Are you leaving us, Saobi?" Byakuya asked, her face trembling with an emotion Saobi had never seen. Was it...disappointment? Well, she had every reason to be disappointed. Saobi was betraying her. "I found those letters," Byakuya stated, and Saobi froze. "I don't know what you think you're doing right now, especially letting Haruna know you're alive, but you should stop before you get in too deep."

Saobi smiled sadly and turned to her. "I already am." Slowly making his way towards her, Saobi kissed the woman who he thought of as a mother one last time. "Goodbye." He ran off in the snow, his tall from invisible in a matter of seconds. It was silent.

"Goodbye...son."

* * *

><p>After the cold shower in the morning had not worked to rid his mind of thoughts of a certain woman, Itachi was late to work after he had vigorously exhausted his frustration, and he was extremely sleepy as well. Today, there were no missions, but he had a pile of paperwork about two feet tall that he needed to finish. He had not realized that he let it go this far. However, his superior became upset with his endless yawning, so he sent Itachi home to work. Itachi had attempted to protest, but even Shisui had told him to get his ass home so Itachi finally acquiesced to their demands.<p>

Dragging his feet along, Itachi unlocked his door with great difficulty due to the papers in his hands and shoved it open. Slamming it shut with his foot, he set the paperwork down on the table and pulled out a chair to sit. Then he began to work, feeling a headache come on.

All of a sudden, he felt a heavy weight settle down on his lap. Looking down, he saw a large entity of blubber and white fur. Smiling, he rubbed an ear tenderly between his fingers, and it began to purr.

Itachi quickly snapped himself out of it, reminding himself that he hated that cat. Picking up his pen once more, he got back to work. However, he did not push Omoni off.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean she's gone?" Sasuke yelled at Tsunade. At her side, Ibiki tensed up and opened his mouth to scold the boy, but Jiraya put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.<p>

"She's not in prison anymore, Sasuke. We released her because she gave us the information we wanted," Tsunade explained sternly, crossing her arms over her chest. "She is being monitored at all times by our seals. If she leaves the village, we'll know."

Sasuke's face twisted in anger. "Where is she?" he demanded, his fists clenching at his sides.

"I'm not at liberty to tell," Tsunade coolly replied. "She was guaranteed anonymity."

"Godammit!"Sasuke cursed under his breath. "Damn her! Damn her to hell!"

Jiraya cleared his throat, gathering attention to himself. "She told me that you were best off not going to clan meetings for a while, but if you must, she told me a method that may help." Sasuke had a meeting later with his father that afternoon, and he was in position to decline that offer. He nodded his head. Jiraya's mouth set in a grim line. "Very well," he answered. "Come with me."

* * *

><p>Mei quickly went to the bathroom, and Chojuro and Sakura (Tama was resting upon her shoulder) stood underneath the shade of the trees, waiting for her to come back.<p>

Sakura had never realized how awkward it was talking to the boy. She had never had a real conversation with him before. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that Mei had always "accidentally" slipped in between them. Sakura glanced at the fidgeting Chojuro.

"Hey, is there something between you and Mei?" she asked bluntly, and Chojuro, startled, blushed all the way to the tips of his ears.

"N-no, she doesn't think of me in that way," Chojuro stammered, continued to mumble on about "not handsome" and "not strong."

Sakura shrugged." I don't know; she seems to think of you in some way," she said stupidly, trying to get the panicking boy to calm down. Things slowly went silent as Chojuro stopped muttering, but Sakura suddenly felt an extremely powerful chakra signature. Her eyes widened, and she heard Chojuro beside her gasp.

A loud boom was heard, and soon, Mei and another figure came zipping out of the trees, Mei chasing the man. She drew a kunai out of her pouch and thrust her arm forward, but the man drew his weapon and held it up, blocking her knife. Mei growled, and the man shoved her backward using his weight, hopping two feet back himself. The two ends of his weapon glinted in the sunlight.

Wait, Sakura thought. Two blades? Upon closer look, she found that the blonde man had a two-headed spear. Eyes widening in realization, she tensed and glowered intensely at the man in fur.

* * *

><p><em>Tsunade nodded. "This is the group that hurt Sasuke, though it was just one of them, and they already did a pretty nice job of it."Sakura shuddered as her body went cold. Yes, they did an extremely good job of it. Cuts everywhere... "They all use double headed spears, though from what Kakashi has told me, they have a whole arsenal of weapons, and they're extremely well prepared. He told me that they had been the most efficient group of assassins he had ever seen."<em>

* * *

><p>"Yagura's Army," Sakura whispered, her fists raising to a defensive stance. Tama hissed at the man, sensing Sakura's uptight energy. Chojuro's hand was on his gigantic sword, legs firmly planted into the ground.<p>

"What are you doing here, you bastard?" Mei hissed. Sakura shuddered. Man, if looks could kill...Here she thought Mei liked good looking men.

"I'm not here to fight," the man said.

"How do I know that?" Mei shouted, pointing her kunai in the direction of the man. He swiftly dodged it and took a couple of steps to the side.

"You were the one who attacked me," he protested, a vein popping out in his neck. "Here," he said quickly. Loosening the grip on his spear, he dropped it gently on the ground and put his hands in the air. "There, I'm not here to fight."

"Perfect," Mei spat, and she quickly drew her arm back to jab the kunai forward-

"Mei, wait!" Chojuro cried out, and Mei froze in place. Chojuro dropped his sword hand. "He's dropped his weapon, Mei. He didn't even make a move to dodge. Let's hear him out." Mei's face hardened for a moment, and she glared at the man's bowed head. Sakura was afraid she would do it, but Mei returned her knife to its pouch.

"Okay, Chojuro," she complied, and the man dressed in fur let out a breath of relief, bending over to pick up his spear.

"I've defected," he said. Sakura didn't really understand the initial situation, but some things were beginning to fall into place. The large pack, the attire unsuited for the weather (the fur coat would have made sense in Water Country, but it was blazing hot here!), and his unwillingness to attack. This man, a former member of Yagura's Army, had quickly defected, and it was evident that he was never going back. "I noticed you were heading to Konoha, and I followed you since I don't really know the way there."

"Tell me why," Mei ordered, giving off an enormous murderous intent, and the man's eyes betrayed an odd sort of emotion. He was clearly fighting a battle within himself at the moment, debating on whether or not to tell Mei. Finally, he spoke.

"I can't." He added," it would put all of you in danger, and then I would never find my way there." Mei's form slumped, and she sighed.

"Rudy, for old time's sake, I'll let you off, but don't you dare hide anything else from me from now on, you understand?" 'Rudy' (Sakura had never heard of such an absurd name!) nodded, and Mei sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Sakura, he's coming with us, if that's all right," Mei told her, and Sakura could only dumbly nod. The man, Rudy, smiled at her, and Sakura felt a blush rise up her cheeks. He was extremely handsome, and Sakura hated that she had such an immediate response to it. Even Mei could control herself better! Turning to her left, she saw that Chojuro had begun to pout slightly.

"All right," Sakura breathed. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Itachi and Sasuke stared uncomfortably into the eyes of their father. Their father had beads of sweat on his brow, and he cleared his throat.<p>

"Itachi. Sasuke." He looked at his sons, respectively. "You and I know that the deadline for marriage is coming up." Itachi's eyes widened in horror. He had completely forgotten.

Sasuke scowled. "I had somebody, but you all scared her off!" he hissed, and Fugaku nodded.

"Yes, we did, and I'm very sorry for that. However, our deal remains. Sasuke, you are twenty and your brother is twenty five. These are the ages that we have agreed upon, are they not?"

Sasuke grunted in agreement while Itachi nodded. "Have you anybody else lined up?" Fugaku asked Sasuke.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke muttered, "Of course not."

Fugaku turned to Itachi. "And you?" Itachi simply gave his father a pointed look, and Fugaku's face fell in his hand, releasing a frustrated breath. "What about that girl...what was her name? Ah! Mimi! Whatever happened to her? You went on a date with her."

Itachi huffed. "Father, that was two years ago."

Fugaku's figure snapped up. "What? Impossible."

"I have not spoken to her since." Fugaku sighed, shoulders slumping. Suddenly, his face turned serious, and he leaned forward

"Itachi, you and I both know that you do not want to end up with Natsume." His father gave him a pleading look, and all the memories of Natsume flooded in Itachi's mind. A chill ran through him, and he struggled to smile. Even Sasuke had turned white.

"I-is that all, D-dad?" Sasuke asked. Fugaku nodded shakily.

"Remember, s-sons. You only have a couple months left," Fugaku said, trying to compose himself. Sasuke waved and said goodbye, quickly running out the door. Itachi, however, remained in place. Fugaku frowned. "Is there something wrong?"

Itachi shook his head. "I just need to talk to you."

* * *

><p>Tsunami had been ecstatic to see Sakura. She had invited them all in at once but not before pulling Sakura into a hug. Sakura reciprocated wholeheartedly. It really had been too long. The woman quickly ushered Sakura and her "friends" in, wearing a smile the whole time. The four of them took off their shoes and were directed to the eating area.<p>

"Please, sit, sit!" Tsunami said excitedly, quickly dashing off to the kitchen. "I'll make some tea!" she called out, her voice muffled by the distance. Sakura smiled, reliving all the memories. She had been sitting in this exact spot when Naruto and Sasuke had arrived, both worn and torn, saying that they had completed the tree exercise. They then proceeded to eat till they vomited, but those were just minor details.

"This is nice," Chojuro breathed, stretching backwards.

"I must say it's nice to be inside again," Mei agreed, a sleepy expression on her face. Her head drooped down, and her chin rested on the table. "I can't wait to go to bed tonight," she moaned in happiness, closing her eyes in contentment.

Tama meowed at Sakura, and Sakura was reminded that Tama needed to eat. While she rifled through her pack, she observed Tsunami's house. The place was different than how she remembered. Tazuna had definitely renovated the house a bit, but the familiarity and comfortable feeling remained. Grabbing Tama's food and her bowls, she returned to the eating area and fed the cat.

Tsunami served them the tea, and thankfully, after much prodding, Rudy had taken off the fur coat. Sakura could not fathom why he had been so adamant on keep it on, but he looked as if he might die in the heat. It was summer, after all, and summers in the Land of Waves were vastly different to the summers in Water Country. At the Shinora Compound, there were only two seasons: autumn and winter. In the Land of Fire, summer would be picking up soon. Sakura couldn't wait.

Tsunami sat at the table with them, right next to Sakura. "It has been a while, Sakura-chan. How have you been?"

"I've been great! I just finished a training regimen with my teacher in Water Country. I'm heading back home now." Sakura did not miss how her three companions tensed.

Tsunami's eyes softened. "You've been working very hard, haven't you? You seem different. Stronger, I suppose." Sakura grinned from ear to ear at that. "How have your teammates and your sensei been?"

"Well, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei have been well, but Sasuke was suspended a while back-" Rudy began to choke violently. Sakura looked at him strangely but continued. "He compromised the mission because he slept with a woman..." This only made it worse. Rudy excused himself and left the room.

"That's odd," Tsunami commented on the peculiar reaction from Rudy.

Mei's eyes narrowed. "You're right. _It is_."

* * *

><p>Sasuke was sitting face to face with his fiancée, Hanako. She was sitting with her back straight, her head raised. Her hands were neatly folded over her lap.<p>

Sasuke stared her down but began. "Hanako, we need to start planning for our wedding. I'm not going to make the deadline." It was silent, but then Hanako began to giggle, her finger touching her lips. "What's funny?" Sasuke asked, baffled at the sudden change in the girl's behavior.

"Oh, Sasuke-san, I'm not going to marry you." Sasuke gasped silently at this admission.

"B-but you have to," he explained, leaning forward.

Hanako shook her head. "I don't have to do anything."

Sasuke frowned. "People are already planning it, they're probably planning Natsume and Itachi's as well. You have no choice."

Hanako smiled sadly at him. "Well, people are free to do whatever they want, but they will be sorely disappointed on the day of our wedding."

Sasuke, confused, nodded stupidly before excusing himself.

What on earth had she meant by that?

* * *

><p>Words: 2834<p>

SEVEN PAGES UGH CARPAL TUNNEL NOW

SORRY FOR THE DELAY

Question of the day: What's your favorite movie?

For me, it's a close tie between _Up_ and _Kung Fu Panda_.

Edit: There's imporantish shit on my profile, please check it out. There's a poll, and an announcement...and yeah. And would anybody like to draw a cover for this story?


	66. Happy Mornings, Unable to Remove

They would be staying at Tazuna's home for a few more days to rest.

Sakura slept in until eleven.

Though she deeply respected her teacher and loved her for training her, getting up so early in the morning was dreadful. She vaguely pondered how Itachi would react, knowing his sleeping habits. He would not be happy about it. At all. She smiled at the thought of him, and her chest warmed a little. Ignoring the feeling, she sat up and stretched her limbs, sighing in contentment. It was so nice to be in a place where it wasn't below ten degrees every day. So nice.

Getting up from her futon, she spied that both Mei and Chojuro had already awakened yet oddly, the new member to their party, Rudy, was asleep. He was tense even as he slept, his brows furrowed and a scowl painting his face. Sakura frowned. He looked as if he had never gotten a good night's sleep before.

"Rudy," she said softly. "You'll probably want to get up now." When Rudy did not move, Sakura simply let out a heavy breath and slid the door shut.

Rudy's dull blue eyes opened, and he rolled over to his other side, his scowl remaining the whole time.

* * *

><p>Sakura smiled when she saw Tazuna and Inari sitting at the kitchen table. "Hi, Tazuna-san, Inari!" Inari had grown up to be quite the looker as a teenager. Sakura fondly remembered the times when he was but eight years old and clung onto every word Naruto said, no matter how much he pretended not to. Inari beamed at her, and Tazuna spared her one of his gruff smiles.<p>

"Sakura, it's great to see you!" Inari's eyes traveled her body, and Sakura lifted an eyebrow in response. A tint of red painted his cheeks, but Sakura just giggled.

"Yes, it's clear to me that you've grown up now, Inari."

* * *

><p>"What do you mean it can't be removed?" Sasuke was panicking.<p>

Jiraya exhaled. "I cannot remove it. It doesn't mean that it cannot be removed, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that seal. I have never come across it before in all my years."

Sasuke sneered, his lip curling into a hideous grimace. "I bet you were too busy peeking on dumb sluts to!"

Jiraya staggered backwards, indignant. "Hey, that was valuable research!"

Sasuke glared at Tsunade. "What about that bitch? What did she know about it?"

Tsunade's eye twitched, but she kept her temper in check. "She said that she knows how, but it would be impossible for her to do alone."

Fuming, Sasuke spat, "What does that mean?"

Tsunade was clenching her teeth, but she refrained from punching the boy in the face. "She needs her comrades to remove it completely, but the likelihood of all of them coming here is nearly zero. Also, one of them is dead."

Sasuke's eyes widened imperceptibly, the most subtle he had been in the last five minutes. "Let me talk to her."

Jiraya shook his head. "Not possible. We guaranteed her anonymity. You won't speak to her unless you run into her or if she wants to see you."

Tsunade sighed, interlacing her fingers while a vein pulsed in her forehead. "For now, you can't go on any confidential missions nor should you go to clan meetings. The woman and Jiraya are currently trying to find a solution."

Sasuke nodded begrudgingly.

* * *

><p>I am so, so sorry for the long wait. I simply didn't have any time to write for YFC nor did I have the energy (aka writer's block). But IM OKAY NOW, NOT TO WORRY.<p>

Question of the day: how much did you miss me, be honest plz


	67. What did she do?

Itachi was once again awoken with Omoni's low meowing and Pablo howling. Groaning, he sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes, and cast a nasty glare at his two pets. Well, Omoni wasn't really his cat, but the idea still applied. "Silence," he rasped, slamming the pillow down over his head. "Go back to bed, it is much too early for this nonsense.

Omoni hissed in response. "Who does he think he is, chastising me like that? I was merely protecting this dumb man's territory from the feral squirrel chirping outside the window." It fluffed its tail tantalizingly at the fat cat. Pablo barked in agreement.

"You scare him off, Omoni!"

Itachi, shaking his head at the pets' playful banter, decided to get up and stretch his limbs.

* * *

><p>Sakura walked with Inari to the market, marveling at how much the land of waves had changed. It was infinitely more prosperous now, and there were no more children on the streets. She felt warmth fill her being and sighed in contentment.<p>

"This place has changed so much in the past years." Inari grinned at her.

"It has, hasn't it? Gramps is so proud of this, and everyone is so much happier."

Sakura smiled. This place was almost as pretty as Konoha now. There had been such a long period of peace in Konoha. She prayed it would stay that way.

Mei, Chojuro, and Rudy walked in the town together, the first two not letting the blond man out of their sights. However, they still had time to appreciate the scenery.

"It is so nice here," Chojuro sighed. "I heard this town was really poor before."

Mei nodded. "It's so different from Mist." They both turned to their companion. "How was the capital city doing last time you were there?"

Rudy shrugged. "Dirty. People dying of illness or war wounds, the usual. You know Tobi doesn't like people having too much for themselves."

Helping Tsunami with dinner, Rudy looked at a picture that had been taped up. It was of the whole family, plus another man. Rudy clicked his tongue. Tsunami noticed him staring and told him that was Inari's father.

He echoed her, "A father, huh?"

* * *

><p>Sakura and her group said goodbye to Tazuna and his family the next day, Tsunami giving Chojuro such a tight hug (in friendship, though there had been a fire ignited in Mei's eyes) that the boy started to turn purple. The four of them headed out, five if one includes Tama. As they days passed, they would camp out in trees or in tents, depending on the safety of the area.<p>

It was nighttime now, and they were a half day's walk away from Konoha. To play it safe, Mei had decided that they would all camp out for the night.

After much labor and sweat, Chojuro panted out, "Mei, your tent is ready."

Beaming at him, Mei placed a sloppy smooch on his cheek, making Chojuro look like he would faint, and zipped up the tent flaps. Sakura frowned as she realized that Chojuro was still trying to fan himself from the heat of his cheeks.

"Why do you let her do that to you?" she finally asked after a while. Chojuro blinked.

"Come again?" he said, cocking his head to the side.

"Mei," Sakura clarified crossing her arms.

He bit his lip and sighed. "I don't know if I can put it into words," he said with uncertainty. "It's clearly inappropriate, but I guess...I like it?"

Sakura heaved a heavy breath. "So that's it, huh? It looked like she was taking advantage."

Chojuro cast her a soft smile. "Mei's not like that."

* * *

><p>They arrived at the outskirts of Konoha at last. They only had a few miles left to go, and then...<p>

Sakura breathed out and smiled. "Home." Tama meowed in response.

Mei grinned at her. "Must be nice to go home after so long. How long were you there for?"

"About two months. It was definitely worth it, though." Mei smiled, and they continued the journey in peaceful silence.

...until three ANBU stopped them at the gates.

* * *

><p>Once Rudy had left and the news of the white haired woman's death had reached them, Koga had run off as well. And then another, then another. Tobi grit his teeth in frustration, feeling his one eye twinge in hatred.<p>

This was not going as planned at all.

* * *

><p>Hanako had quietly let herself be measured, she had said she would arrive at the wedding.<p>

So why was Sasuke at the altar all alone?

Gritting his teeth in frustration, he clenched his fists repeatedly to calm himself. No sign of worry appeared on his face though the minimal amount of people in the room knew he was getting anxious. Hanako's parents were looking at each other with fear in their eyes, her father sweating profusely. Mikoto seemed calm enough, but Fugaku had the most dour look upon his face, tapping his foot impatiently. Itachi had been sent away on a mission so he could not attend.

Finally, Hanako's sister came back, a nervous smile on her face. Sasuke, calmly, walked over to her, a hint of a smile on his face. "So, when will she be here?"

Hanako's sister pursed her lips together nervously. "Sasuke-san, Hanako is...well, she's not coming."

Sasuke had the most uncharacteristic grin on his face. "May I ask why?" he asked sweetly.

"She...she's taking the exams... to become a politician!" she finished in a wail. "I went back home to find her, but all she left was a letter saying that she was going to go take the exams today! And she said she thinks she'll pass!"

Hanako's mother and father began sobbing and asked themselves what they had done wrong. Mikoto had an amused grin on her face, but she was the only one. Fugaku frowned, but he always frowned. "This is rather unexpected," he mused out loud.

Sasuke just stood there with his mouth open, dumbfounded.

* * *

><p>Ok sorry this took so long guys, I was busy with UNI AND STUFF. but now i'm heading off to Taiwan too. :( I'm gonna keep writing it though and I'll try to update when I get back!<p>

Question of the day: have you ever "broken up" with a friend? I recently have, and I'm still pretty hurt about it, but I'm sure I'll pull through!


	68. Sakura's Return

Sakura recognized two of the ANBU. Naruto and Shisui were standing before her in a defensive stance. She looked to see if Itachi was there as well and was disappointed when he wasn't.

"It's nice to be back..." she murmured to herself.

"Not exactly the welcome you were expecting, huh?" Mei whispered, taking a couple of steps back. Shisui cocked his head to the side.

"Those two are the rebellion leaders from Mist," he said to Naruto, who in turn nodded. "Take them to Lady Tsunade. She has been expecting them." Their teammate motioned for the two of them to come forward, and they hesitantly did, not taking their eyes off the others. The three of them stepped into the village and out of sight. Naruto stepped forward towards, and Sakura suddenly felt very threatened.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" she hissed, stepping in between the two men.

"That is one of the men from Yagura's army who practically killed Sasuke," he said calmly, his hand twitching near his weapon's holster. Sakura's eyes widened. She turned her head over her shoulder, a silent plea to Rudy, begging him to tell her that it wasn't true. Rudy looked away. Naruto tensed. "Sakura, we have to do this, for Sasuke."

Sakura frowned.

Naruto and Shisui pulled out their weapons. Sakura looked on in horror and then-

"Wait."

A thud and clanging. Naruto cautiously eyed the discarded spear and backpack, taking a step closer. Rudy put his arms up. "I'm not running. I came here to turn myself in."

At first, everything was so silent that you could hear a leaf drop. Then Shisui stuttered, " O-okay." He scratched his neck. "Um, come with me then." Naruto bent over and picked up Rudy's belongings, a vein in his neck popping as he did so.

"This is heavy," he mouthed, and then trudged along. "Sakura-chan, I'll escort you home."

"O-okay, I guess," she uttered, confused at everything. "Could I have an explanation at least?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not yet. Even I don't know what's going on right now. We just sensed his chakra and came. Shisui has seen him as well."

"What about Mei and Chojuro?" What exactly were they doing here? Sakura looked worriedly at the gates closing behind her. Was Konoha safe? What was going on?

It seemed even after gaining a vast amount of knowledge, there was still so much she did not know.

* * *

><p>The first thing Sakura did was set Tama in the house. "Stay here, okay?" Tama meowed in response and waited at the foot of the stairs. Sakura thought about showering first, but she was desperate to see her baby. Even though it meant that Itachi would see her in such an ugly state...<p>

Sakura shook her head as a flush started arising. Why did she care about that? She didn't care what he thought of her! He was just a stupid neighbor, that's all. Nodding to herself like she had said something profound, Sakura marched up to Itachi's house and boldly knocked on the door. She instantly regretted that decision. Her knees quivered, and she nervously chewed on her fingernails. Why did she have to that? So stupid, stupid, stupid!

The door opened. "Hello?" Sakura snapped back to reality.

"Uh, hello, Itachi. I'm here to pick up, y'know..." Damn it, why was she being so awkward? They had written letters to each were friends- she shouldn't have started to act like he was a stranger.

A subtle smile played upon his lips. "Omoni?"

"Yes, the cat. I'm here to pick up the cat!" she said overenthusiastically, a chipper grin on her face.

His eyes softened, in a look akin to sadness. "I'll go get him." He beckoned for her to come in while he fetched the cat.

Sakura heard angry meows and some cursing along with some yapping.

A few moments later, a roughed up Itachi came out holding an unfamiliar cat. "Here he is," he said, trying to conceal his panting. Sakura was confused. Why was he handing her this strange cat. It was not Omoni.

"This isn't my cat," she said.

Itachi sighed. "He lost a little bit of weight while you were gone..."

Sakura choked on her spit. "Omoni?"

The cat mewled grumpily, jumping into her arms. He began to purr loudly and rub his head against her. He sniffed something off about her, as if somebody else had touched his slave...that was unacceptable. However, he continued to snuggle against her. Finally, his slave was back.

Sakura's jaw dropped. "What did you do to him?" she finally whispered, letting Omoni drop to the ground and let him continue his rubbing against her legs.

Itachi shrugged. "He missed you." There was a hint of red on his cheeks that Sakura tried to convince herself she was imagining.

"I-is that so?" she laughed, smiling fondly at Omoni. She bowed a little. "Well, thanks. I owe you one. I'll see you later." She turned away, Omoni following closely at her side.

"Sakura." She jumped a little at the sound of his voice.

"I'm glad you're back," he breathed. She faced him again, eyes shining brightly. In a flash, she had put her arms around him and pulled him tightly against her. Itachi inhaled sharply, his hands hesitantly coming to rest upon her shoulders. He cursed at himself for having just the slightest tremor in his fingers.

"Thanks," she said, ending the hug way too soon- in Itachi's opinion. "Bye," she said shortly, dashing off to her house quickly. She slammed her door shut.

Itachi was still in his front yard smiling like an idiot.

* * *

><p>Sakura leaned against the door and pulled her hair. "Agh! I knew I should have taken a shower."<p>

* * *

><p>Words: 959<p>

Next update: probably tomorrow!

Sorry it took so long guys. I hope I've thrown in enough hints about their feelings in the past chapters. If not, eh, oh well.

Question of the day: Who is your favorite character from ATLA?


	69. Omoni's new rival and a discovery

Omoni eyed Tama warily, circling her like prey.

"Who are you?" he meowed lowly, ears back and the hairs on his back standing straight up.

Regally, she answered, "I am Princess Tama, peasant." She licked her paw once and jumped onto the stair rail.

Omoni hissed at the sudden movement, preparing to pounce. Tama laughed at his stupidity, waving her behind at him.

"Why are you here?" Omoni demanded to know, seething. He had just gotten his slave back. He was not prepared to share with anyone!

"My previous master gave me to your master," Tama explained with the flick of her tail.

"That's my slave."

"Oh, whatever," Tama muttered, rolling her eyes at him and climbing up the stair rail.

* * *

><p>Sakura rubbed herself free of all the dirt and grime she had accumulated in the past week. Her nose crinkled when she saw the brown water pooled around her feet. Her hair was completely tangled and had all sorts of strange bugs in it. She felt very bad for Itachi; he had accepted her hug while she was in that state.<p>

About an hour later, she emerged from the shower. She sighed in pleasure as she bounced on her bed, buck naked. Finally, her own bed. Snuggling in her covers, exhausted from the day's activities, she promptly fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Sasuke had no idea what to do now.<p>

He just sat in his apartment on the couch, drinking. Naruto had tried to get him out a couple of times, but he didn't want to go anywhere with that dumbass.

Even his own fiancée didn't want him. Great.

Not sure what he was even doing, Sasuke limped out of his house, hiccupping, intent on taking a walk to cool his head. This shouldn't bother him. It was no big deal. He could always convince her later. Yes...It was highly unlikely that she'd pass the test anyway.

Staggering heavily, he stopped to rest at a tree. A woman passed him by.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

He grabbed her.

* * *

><p>Saobi bowed, his forehead kissing the floor. Tobi did not even turn to look at him.<p>

"Do you have the information I asked for?"

Saobi nodded. "Yes, Tobi-sama."

"Do you pledge unwavering loyalty to me and accept to face the consequences, lest you betray me?"

Saobi closed his eyes. "Yes."

* * *

><p>Sasuke growled, "I've finally found you!"<p>

The woman struggled lightly in his grasp. "Let go of me, asshole!" She drew her fist back and punched him in the gut. Sasuke froze on impact but just moments later doubled over and crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath.

The woman cursed underneath her breath as Sasuke struggled to get up, and she started to run.

"Wait, you bitch!" Sasuke choked out, chasing after her. However, she was much, much faster than him, in his intoxicated, wounded state, and she shot off the ground, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Sasuke stopped running and fell face down on the ground. "I've found you," he whispered.

The white-haired woman was in Konoha.

* * *

><p>Sakura awoke to the sound of purring. Still drowsy, she tilted her head to the side and pouted. Omoni was curled up by the crook of her neck, nuzzling against her head. She smiled. This was very strange but also very nice.<p>

Putting on her slippers, she pulled on a large and long shirt and headed downstairs to make herself some coffee. Twisting her still damp locks into a messy bun, she laughed as she saw not one, but two faces looking up at her, eager for breakfast. She quickly fed the cats, not noticing that Omoni wanted to eat Tama's share as well, and sat down at her kitchen table, inhaling the pleasant aroma from her drink.

Closing her eyes, she let her mind wander off. Soon enough she was thinking about the hug yesterday, and she nearly smacked herself in the face.

"So embarrassing," she groaned to herself, leaning back in the chair. Itachi was way too kind. He would accept a hug from such a dirty girl as her. Realizing that sounded wrong, Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes. Sipping at her coffee, she thought about her teacher. Was she still...alive? Sakura doubted that she would last much longer, the very thought twisting up her stomach. She had spent the last months of her life teaching Sakura, months that could have been spent relaxing or spending time with family and friends. For that, Sakura would always be grateful. Hapinara had helped a lot, too. While Byakuya had mainly improved her medical ninjutsu, Hapinara helped her out with taijutsu and offensive ninjutsu, also helping her completely perfect her chakra control. Sakura knew she still wasn't the strongest, but with their help, she was getting there.

At the sound of her doorbell ringing, Sakura quickly went to peek through the peephole. In her excitement, she brashly opened the door. "Good morning!" she said calmly, though her heart was racing for no explicable reason.

Itachi bowed his head to her and replied, "Good morning, princess." That made Sakura's cheeks warm, and she didn't understand why. His eyebrow raised."Sorry, too early?"

Sakura cocked her head to the side. "No, not at all. Why do you ask?"

"...never mind. I was wondering if you would honor me with a spar today, Sakura. I would love to see what you learned."

Sakura grinned from ear to ear. He was the first person to ask. Not even Naruto, one of her best friends, had asked. "Of course! What time were you thinking?"

"How about at eleven? Then we can go out to lunch afterward."

"Like a-" Sakura didn't finish her sentence and just breathed in deeply. "Sure, that'll work for me."

Itachi smiled softly at her. "Great. I'll see you then." He paused. "You look lovely this morning."

Sakura watched him as he left and slowly closed the door when he arrived at his own home. Puzzled, she went to check the mirror. What did he mean?

Her jaw dropped.

She was a complete mess. She had completely forgotten that she wasn't really dressed for visitors. Why on earth would he compliment her disheveled appearance? It must have been some kind of joke. She screamed a little and stomped back to the kitchen to finish her coffee.

* * *

><p>Words: 1051<p>

Question of the day: What is one of your most embarrassing habits?

Mine is that I tend to talk in an Asian accent with my friend sometimes. It started off as a joke, but now it's a habit.

o btw my fave atla character is iroh.

p.s. we hit the 1000 review mark! Thanks so much to all my readers for putting up with this for over two years!


	70. Itachi, you're-

Tobi was furious.

"What do you mean they are all gone?" he gritted out. The boy prostrated in front of him squeaked and shivered in fear. He tapped his foot impatiently, the grinding of his teeth extremely loud.

"Th-they have all defected, Tobi-sama. They're all gone," the boy managed to stutter out, feeling his heart pound in his ears and the sweat collecting at his temple.

Tobi slammed his fist down. "Get out of my sight!" he hissed. The boy quickly complied, muttering unintelligible nothings while keeping his head bowed. Tobi's jaw clenched.

He'd have to send _him_ there.

* * *

><p>Sakura quickly ran to the training ground, not wanting to be late. For some reason, Tama had come along with her. She shrugged it off, knowing that in probably Tama's earlier years, she had been a ninja cat.<p>

Sakura was surprised to find Itachi not there yet, but then she realized that maybe he had had a mission or he had fallen asleep. He was quite the heavy sleeper. Stretching out her muscles, Sakura prepared herself for a lengthy match between Itachi and herself. It wasn't often that she got an opportunity like this. Hell, it was hard even getting Naruto to spar with her now! She would make the most of it. Maybe, just maybe, she'd get the upper hand and win.

She snorted. As if. Maybe she wouldn't be too sore tomorrow if she begged him to go easy on her.

Her eyes narrowed as she sensed it. That bastard was in the tree above her. Smirking, she realized he wasn't going easy on her, and that made her love him all the more. Twirling around, she pretended to be oblivious, flipping her hair and whistling badly.

In the trees, Itachi made an inaudible whine. This was so unfair. She was so cute.

Suddenly, Sakura slammed her fist into the tree, letting out a roar as she did so. As the tree was falling, Itachi put his hand down and thrust his body off the tree. He let a small smile slip. She had noticed him.

Landing with a bit of slide, he brushed the dirt off his shoulder and reveled in how breathtaking Sakura was when she was cracking her knuckles. He'd have to be on his toes the whole time. Sakura pivoted in the ground, launching her leg into the ground. Itachi dashed to the side to avoid the quickly approaching crack, and he cast a simple illusion.

He clicked his tongue. Of course, she was out of it within seconds. She was supposed to be the best at genjutsu after all.

He cloaked his signature and hid in the bushes, trying to figure out her next plan of action. She was just standing in the middle of the field, looking around. It was as if she wasn't even trying.

Then he noticed she had no shadow.

He felt the cold steel of a kunai touch his throat. He shuddered when he felt Sakura's hot breath ghosting over his ear.

"Gotcha."

"Clever," he said, applauding slowly. "Very clever. However-"

He caught her wrist in his hand and twisted the kunai out of it, discarding it to the side. "That's not good enough." With her wrist still in his hand, he tried to jab at one of her pressure points with two fingers, but Sakura had other plans. Ducking underneath his arm, she locked his arm behind him and sent a surge of chakra through his fingers, temporarily blocking the chakra flow there. She felt she could have won if Itachi hadn't swept his foot behind him, effectively tripping her (though she bounced back quickly). She hid before he had the chance to catch up with her and cloaked every trace of her chakra.

It had only been five minutes, and she was already sweating profusely.

This was hard, and she loved every minute of it.

* * *

><p>More time had passed, thirty minutes to be exact, and it had gotten so hot and intense that both of them had taken off their shirts and were fighting strictly hand to hand now. Itachi cursed silently as Sakura's fist glided past his head, only dodging by a hair. She really had gotten better; the training really had paid off. Exhaling in relief, he wasted no time executing a well-placed chop to her side, and he inwardly apologized as she winced. However, it was clear that in hand to hand combat, Sakura would be the sure victor.<p>

However, Itachi was just a bit of a spoilsport. He still maintained some of the feelings of rivalry toward Sakura and felt that he could not yet allow her to outdo him. "Think," he whispered to himself.

Then he got it. Oh, he was playing dirty. He shrugged it off with a brief laugh. He was a ninja, that's what they did.

He barely managed to sidestep a hammer kick (which had immediately created a crater in the ground) and muttered out, "It's quite lovely, you know."

"What?" Sakura hissed.

Then Itachi was suddenly right there, nose to nose. He trailed his index finger down her lower back and practically moaned, "This."

Sakura froze briefly (he basically just caressed her tattoo!), but that was more than enough time for Itachi to secure her arms behind her back and point a knife at her belly, straddling her so she couldn't move.

He did that cocky Uchiha smirk that Sakura saw so often on Sasuke but never on him. She gulped. She guessed it did run in the family then.

"Checkmate," Itachi announced and released her, putting his knife back in its holster and offering a hand to help her up.

Sakura gave him a dirty look, though there was no real anger in it, and accepted his hand, hoisting herself up.

"I almost had you there," she panted. "If it hadn't been for that dirty trick, I would have."

Itachi smiled. She would have, but he wouldn't let her know that for now. "Would you like to head out for lunch now, or would you like to rest for a bit?"

Sakura laughed. "I figure lunch first because after I shower, I'm going to pass out for a few days. Or rather until my night shit. I mean shift."

Itachi chuckled softly at that. "Very well, lunch it is."

Pulling his shirt down over his head, he was (sadly, Sakura realized) fully clothed again and tossed Sakura her shirt as well.

"Let's head out then," she said, putting on her own dirtied shirt.

They eventually decided on a Tonkatsu place that served fast. Sakura was complaining of starvation, and although he would never say it, Itachi's stomach was growling loudly, too. Sakura moaned as she ate, and Itachi just couldn't help but think she was so much like a little kid sometimes. It was endearing and annoying. He had enough of that with Sasuke.

"Did you and Omoni make good friends while I was gone?"

Itachi was silent. "Of course not," he finally replied, the response a complete and total lie. "I don't know how you can live with him."

Sakura harrumphed, flipping her sweaty hair at him. "He just doesn't like you that much. He prefers people with long, pretty hair."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me?" his voice went sassy for just a moment, but perhaps that was just Sakura's imagination.

She realized she might have hit a sore spot (one she had directly caused), but she continued. "I mean, it's okay, Itachi. Your hair wasn't even that beautiful before." A complete and total lie. "I did you a favor."

"Ah, yes," he responded dryly. "The hoards of girls that came after me once they could now properly see my face. What a favor."

"Sarcasm duly noted," Sakura stifled a laugh, covering her mouth and nose. Itachi's eyes softened, and he continued eating, feeling his chest warm.

* * *

><p>After they finished and Sakura had insisted on paying, they headed home, Tama perched on Itachi's shoulder. Sakura gaped at him. Cats loved him so much, and he wasn't even a cat person. Life was so unfair. They reached their respective houses and turned to look at each other. Sakura frowned. She wanted to spend a little more time with him…as friends, of course. She probably wouldn't get to see him much over the course of the next few weeks. She had to get back into the swing of things, especially field missions. Mustering up the courage, she called out, "W-would you like to come over after we shower?"<p>

She cursed the stutter in her voice, but her heart lightened when she heard a soft, "yes."

Grinning, she said, "My window will be unlocked for you so you can come right in!"

Itachi laughed lightly at that. "All right."

Itachi finished first, not having long hair to worry about anymore. He wondered if she really wanted him to climb through the window. He checked her door first. It was locked. If he really wanted to, he could either break down the door or pick it, but he supposed he could respect her wishes and climb through the window like a desperate teenage boy trying to get laid.

Upon entering (after getting a few strange looks from the old lady across the street), Itachi was welcomed by Omoni rubbing against his leg, purring contently. Giving him a belly rub, Itachi was willing to admit that he had missed this. Tama, however, soon got jealous and came over as well, meowing and stepping on Itachi's knees, trying to push Omoni out of his lap. Omoni was very visibly upset at that, a feral hiss escaping him, and the two cats prepared themselves for battle.

Sakura came out of the shower with damp hair and swimming in a big shirt and chastised the cats. "Bad Omoni! Tama, stop humping him!" Eventually, she realized that there was no controlling the animals and just dumped them out of her room, shutting the door on the howling cats. She stuck her tongue out playfully. "Whoopsies."

Itachi cracked a grin. "Have they been like that since you got back?"

Sakura sighed. "Yup. It's probably because Omoni thinks I'm his property or something. He doesn't like it when anybody else touches me, though. Even with Sasuke, he was fussy."

Itachi felt his shoulders slump in relief at the mention of Sasuke in such a casual way. Perhaps she was over him? "Is that so?" he said airily, leaning against the bed frame. Sakura cocked her head to the side.

"You can sit on the bed, y'know. Don't worry; I don't bite. Unless you're into that," she joked, to which Itachi mentally answered, 'yes.'

Itachi did go sit on the bed, and Sakura plopped right down next to him. He tried to inch away, but every time he did so, she would snuggle right up next to him. He gave up and just let her rest against his shoulder.

"What has been going on since I've left?"

Itachi knew he probably should tell her about Sasuke's failed wedding, but he didn't know if she could handle it yet. Would it be too upsetting for her? Would she boot her out of his bed? Sighing, he decided he'd just tell her.

"Sasuke was supposed to get married."

Sakura was surprised at how much it didn't hurt her that much, but she felt for the poor girl. "Poor Hanako," she mumbled, drawing her legs in. "She's so young…"

"Actually," Itachi interjected. "She didn't show up."

Sakura stared at him with a confused face. "Huh?"

"She ran off to become a politician." Itachi felt bad for his brother, but it was way too funny not to share. "She didn't even grace him with her presence at the altar.

There was a moment of silence before Sakura burst out laughing. She rolled on her back and held her sides. Tears came out because she was laughing so hard. She slapped Itachi's thigh, and her laughter started dying down, though it came out in little wheezes and gasps.

"That's the best thing I've heard all day," she said, poking Itachi in the side.

He jerked violently, scaring Sakura. She jumped back a little bit, about to ask what was wrong until she noticed the bright blush marring his face. "I-Itachi, are you…"

"Don't say it-"

"…ticklish?" The man pursed his lips and refused to meet Sakura's eyes.

She giggled in excitement. "You ARE!"

"No, I-" Sakura poked him in the sides again, and he whimpered. "Sakura, don't," he begged, eyes wide and pleading.

An evil grin on her face, she shook her head. "No way, this is payback for today." Then she pounced on him.

She put her hands underneath his shirt and tickled up and down his sides, causing him to writhe underneath her. Sakura could tell that he was so desperately trying to hold in his laughs, his face red from holding in his breath. When she moved to his ribcage, he gasped sharply. "Ah! Sakura, wait-" But of course, she didn't.

Itachi could no longer hold in his laughter, and he began laughing madly. He tried to catch his breath, but it was proving to be hard because in no way, shape, or form was Haruno Sakura going easy on him. He weakly tried to push her away, but the lack of oxygen and the sensation just drained him of all strength. He was doomed to struggle in vain underneath her while she tortured him.

Sakura's fingers slipped over a rough patch of skin, and she stopped. Gingerly lifting his shirt, her throat tightened at the huge scar that was present in the middle of his chest.

"Where'd you get that?" she finally asked, not moving her hand from the area.

Itachi's jaw clenched. He looked away. "I'd rather not talk about it right now."

Sakura's lower lip jutted out, but she nodded. "I understand." However, she had a fascination with his body now. His body had always seemed flawless compared to hers, but was it possible that he had as many scars as she did? She absentmindedly traced over the ragged flesh, staring at it intently, not noticing how Itachi was holding his breath and trying to lift her higher on his thighs so she wouldn't notice his arising problem.

He felt her breathing right on his nipple, and it was supremely awkward, but_ it also felt really good so…_

"Sakura, I should let you get some rest," he said, wanting to hit himself when he heard his voice crack. As if she had been snapped out of a daze, she immediately perked up and nodded.

"Yeah, my gosh, I totally forgot!" She slapped her cheeks a couple of times. "I'll let you get going." Like a good host, she opened the window for her guest to go out of. Beaming at him, she said, "I'll see you later."

Itachi allowed himself a smile. "Yeah," he muttered softly. "Goodbye, Sakura."

* * *

><p>words:2493<p>

next update: lol

wow, all the unreleased sexual tension. i love it.

thanks for all the reviews guys, i really appreciate them.

mocha out.


	71. new assignment, but pablo

The first night back at the hospital had been dreadful. With a couple of her patients, Sakura had immediately gone for the eyes out of habit. Luckily, nurse Daru would stop her before she made a major mistake, and all of the surgeries had gone without a hitch, besides one patient they could not save. His heart was just too old to keep up with him anymore.

Sakura went to the hospital's clinic after she was done with all the surgeries. She took one of the last patients in the room as activity had been dying down that night.

After closing the door, Sakura smiled at the fidgeting woman. She was playing with her fingers, continuously cracking her knuckles and picking at her cuticles. She looked down at the clipboard and noted the patient's name, Jin. Just Jin.

"What seems to be the problem, Jin-san?"

The woman opened and closed her mouth like a fish, a blush coloring her face.

"I think I'm pregnant."

* * *

><p>Itachi returned from his very quick and uneventful mission, trying to drown out his teammate's guffaws. Oddly enough, this time it wasn't Shisui. Shisui had been very quiet for the past week, and it was a bit unnerving. He pondered on whether or not he should ask his best friend what was wrong, but he figured it was best to wait for Shisui to tell him. Shisui was a rather private person when it came to very personal problems after all.<p>

Heading home, he was a bit surprised that his mother was sitting on the front step, her arms curled around herself. He rushed over to her. "Mother," he said. "What are you doing here so late at night?"

Mikoto sighed. "I know you spoke with your father about inheriting the clan. I know you don't want it." Itachi nodded slowly, not looking forward to what she would say next. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Mikoto rubbed her arms.

"Come inside, Mother." Itachi ushered her inside despite her protests and made her some tea. Finally, after warming up a bit, Mikoto spoke.

"Natsuki is furious. She insists that she is still your fiancée because you never broke off the engagement with her." Itachi slapped his forehead. He had forgotten all about that girl. Mikoto calmly sipped her tea. "I suggest you take care of it before this whirls all out of control, son. Otherwise, you'll have a real nightmare on your hands."

Itachi shook his head at his own stupidity. "Duly noted."

* * *

><p>After a quick blood test, Sakura happily informed Jin that she was pregnant, almost three months along, in fact. Sakura wouldn't lie; she had expected the woman to rejoice, but instead, all the color drained out of her face, and she nearly fell face first on to the floor. Luckily, she caught herself, but she was trembling. The woman was gulping repeatedly, and Sakura was afraid she'd have to get the janitor to come in and clean off chunks of vomit if she didn't calm down.<p>

Sakura hurried to her side and sat her down in a chair. "Jin-san, it's okay. If you want, we can terminate the pregnancy. Who's the father?"

Jin just shook her head. Shakily, she got up. "Thank you," she stuttered out before dashing out the door, hand covering her mouth.

Sakura stared blankly. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she shrugged it off.

* * *

><p>Rudy was being surprisingly compliant. Tsunade huffed. Rudy had other information that the white haired woman didn't have, and vice versa. She supposed Yagura had done this to keep them from having too much information lest they betray him. He probably had not expected them to spill it all, though. And spill Rudy did.<p>

Ibiki frowned at the guards who were trying to rough him up when Tsunade shot a pointed glare in their direction. "Stop that," she ordered, and although they were disappointed, they obeyed. His nose was bleeding, but it wasn't as if he was resisting. Still, he was technically a prisoner, so Tsunade couldn't show him too much sympathy. The only thing he had not opened up on was the identity of Yagura's advisors. Mei told them one of the advisor's names was Tobi. She had hinted that he was the real mastermind behind everything, but Tsunade wanted to be absolutely certain before she helped Mei go after him. Kiri was in a sorry state, but Tsunade wasn't willing to risk the lives of her shinobi on a guess.

* * *

><p>Sakura awoke from the sunlight, surprised to find Omoni curled up in the crook of her arm. She smiled sleepily, scratching his back absentmindedly. He snuggled into her warmth and let out a drawn out groan. Slipping out of bed, she was greeted by a meow from Tama, and she patted her little head.<p>

Sakura would be talking to Tsunade today about her trip. Scratching her neck, she reminded herself that she was also going to have to ask about restarting field missions.

As she locked her house, she jumped at the loud banging coming from next door. Slowly, she peered over her shoulder. At Itachi's front door, there was a woman knocking with both her fists, demanding that he open up. She was dressed in a yukata, which Sakura found a bit strange. Nobody really wore yukata casually anymore.

Sakura could hear the high-pitched yipping coming from just below the window, and she let out a heavy breath. Ah, that was something she hadn't missed about her next-door neighbor. However, the yapping from Pablo was becoming more and more like white noise.

Eventually, Itachi opened the door. "Natsuki," he said in a monotone voice. "What a…surprise."

"Itachi," the woman replied, now becoming very composed. She had perfect posture and her hands folded beneath her waist. "This isn't a bad time, is it." This was not a question.

Itachi let out the breath he had been holding in. "Of course not. Please, come in."

As she watched the door close, Sakura felt the most confusing surge of jealousy seize her.

Trying to push away those feelings, she found it rather impossible for the rest of the day. Even though she still kept a professional cover with her patients, her thoughts kept returning to Itachi and the woman banging at his door at eight in the morning. She wasn't jealous, she wasn't jealous, she wasn't-

"Sakura?" Tsunade questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. Sakura jolted in her seat, a flush coming about her cheeks. "Did you hear what I just said?" Bashfully, the pink-haired medic replied no.

Tsunade chuckled. "You seem to have a lot on your mind today, Sakura?"

Weakly, Sakura shot back, "What? No…"

Tsunade just laughed at her response. "It's all right. Anyway, I just said that I would be placing you on Itachi Uchiha's ANBU team. They are in need of a temporary medic as theirs has been injured on a mission recently."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat, but she tried not to let it show, chastising herself. "Understood," she responded curtly, trying to clear her thoughts of the morning's small event.

All it had been was Itachi letting a young woman in his place. They were probably just talking. Even if they weren't, it wasn't any of her business what Itachi was doing with her. She had no right to be angry at him for being with a woman. He was a young man; he had needs…

She was still angry.

It was inexplicable. After being dismissed by Tsunade, Sakura walked home, her head down. She created dents in the earth everywhere she stepped, catching frightened glares from passersby.

* * *

><p>Itachi was furious. He had been called away on a very important mission so he could not care for Pablo, but how dare that woman treat him as such! He was so occupied with throwing her out of his house that he did not mention breaking off the engagement. He would be back by tomorrow, but he still worried over his precious friend. He hoped the note he had hastily stuck to Sakura's door had not blown off.<p>

* * *

><p>Sakura noticed the slip of paper attached to her door, swaying dangerously in the wind. Trotting, she snatched it off.<p>

Dear Sakura,

It seems that Pablo has been injured. I have to leave on a mission right away, so I'd really appreciate it if you looked after him today. Thanks.

Itachi.

P.S. I left the window open for you.

It was written a little messier than his usual, and Sakura sighed. She really wasn't in the mood, but she'd do it anyway. After all, they were something like friends now, right?

Jumping through his bedroom window, Sakura found Pablo lying on his bed, not as chipper as she expected him to be. He perked up when he saw her, and he ran toward her on three legs, keeping off his front right paw.

Sakura froze.

Kneeling down to the poor dog, she dodged his attempts at kissing her in favor of looking at his leg. He let out a high-pitched whine when she took it in her hand. Now, Sakura was no vet, but she figured the same principals of her medical training applied to animals as well. After all, Byakuya-sensei had taught her to be flexible.

Scanning Pablo's foot, she found that there were quite a few little, broken bones, as if someone had stomped on his foot.

It couldn't have been that woman, right?

Pablo whimpered as Sakura let his paw go. "I'll be right back," she told him in what she hoped was a reassuring voice. "Give me a minute."

She returned shortly with a sedative, just in case the healing session was painful. Calculating his body weight, she gave him the half of the maximum amount of what a human his size would need. Pablo cuddled up to her, and her stomach twisted. Even as he was hurt, all he wanted was to be near people. Her lips quirked at the corners. Perhaps Pablo wasn't so bad, after all.

* * *

><p>sorry for long wait, y'know, college stuff yah<p>

Words: 1723

Question of the day: What's something that makes you happy?


	72. Confession

Itachi quickly returned home after his mission, desperate to see how his poor Pablo was doing. He unlocked the door hastily, not even bothering to take off his shoes as he went about searching in the house. However, even after calling Pablo's names and shaking his favorite dog treats, he did not come. Itachi began to panic. Had that treacherous Natsuki done something even worse to him?

Trying to regain his composure, Itachi remembered the note he left for Sakura. He hurried to her house, checking to see if Sakura knew where Pablo was, if he was even still alive. Clearing his throat, he knocked calmly on the door. He heard a hissing somewhere in the house and rolled his eyes, knowing it was Omoni. In a few moments, Sakura answered the door, a black cat perched upon her shoulder. "Oh, hi!" She was flushed, and her hair was messy, and it was undeniably hot. Itachi swallowed-inaudibly, he hoped.

"I-"

"I know, Pablo. I took him home so I could take care of him. He kept trying to hop around, and he wouldn't get better if kept at it." She smiled a bit, though it seemed a bit forced. "I can give him back now since you're here…"

Itachi held up a hand and shook his head. Sighing in relief, he ruffled the hairs at the back of his neck. "Would you mind watching him for now? I have some business that I need to attend to." Sakura's eye lit up a bit, though she still seemed mad.

"Sure, no problem." She paused, gnawing at her lip. Itachi was extremely aware that he was staring, but he could not stop. "What business?" she meekly asked.

Itachi shrugged, figuring it to be best if he didn't tell her. He didn't want her to get mixed up in this Natsuki business. "It's nothing, really. Just a personal matter."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh," she stated flatly. "I see."

Itachi felt a chill wash up over him as the icy stare from Sakura intensified. "Anyway, I really appreciate it," he managed after a few moments.

She smiled bitterly at him. "No problem," she hissed.

"Fine," he said a little harshly.

"FINE!" she spat, slamming the door in his face. Itachi stood in front of her door, wondering what he had said or done.

* * *

><p>"Doctor Sakura," Nurse Daru began. "I think you have been a tad too rough with the patients today."<p>

"What makes you think that?" Sakura said, a Splenda sweet smile stretched on her lips.

The nurse cocked his head to the side. "I just witnessed a grown man, an ANBU for that matter, run out of here in tears after your treatment."

Sakura's lips tightened. "I see." With a heavy sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair. "Thank you for letting me know."

Daru smiled warmly at her. "No problem."

He headed back to Ino, reporting that he had informed Sakura. Ino hugged him. "Thank God, you were the only one brave enough to do it."

* * *

><p>After asking Natuski on a dinner "date," Itachi had promptly run away to Haruna's house to drown in all his bad decisions. He was cradling her baby in his arms, swinging it back and forth. Haruna's other child, Enho, came up to him and asked, "Are you on drugs?"<p>

"Go away."

Haruna came in and sighed. "Why did you even ask her? You have to be there in an hour, y'know! Why didn't you just tell her you're not going to be the patriarch anymore and break it off?"

"I need to be in a public place so she can't hurt me. I need to make her happy before I tell her."

Haruna scoffed. "I don't see why you are all so afraid of her."

Shisui called out from the kitchen. "It's different for you, Haruna! You've never had to be with her for more than five minutes!" Snorting, Haruna continued to look through Shisui's closet, searching for the letter she knew Shisui had stashed away. She had to show Itachi. It wasn't right to keep this from him.

"Honey, um, could you go get some milk? I think we're all out!" she said. It wasn't a lie, but she needed Shisui to leave the house.

"He's rubbing my feet," Haruna's grandma said in a thick accent.

"I'll do it for you later!" Haruna screeched. "Get going, Shisui!"

He moaned. "Fine! I'll go." After Itachi and Haruna heard the door slam shut, Haruna scrambled through Shisui's closet, swearing profusely. She squealed in delight when she found the letter.

"Okay, okay!" She sat down next to Itachi, gripping the letters as if they were trying to get out of her grasp. She took a deep breath. "Give me the baby. You need to look at these."

"Why?

"Because our old teammate Saobi is alive."

* * *

><p>Sakura sat with Omoni and Pablo. Omoni had curled up around the injured dog; Sakura guessed it must have been to comfort the poor thing. It was a good thing Omoni was getting fat again- that way, Pablo had plenty of cushion to sleep on. However, Sakura did not want to stay at home by herself that evening. She had better things to do than get drunk all by her lonesome. She could go get drunk in a bar instead.<p>

"Tama." Tama meowed in response, indicating that she was listening. "Watch over Pablo, don't let him get into trouble." Putting on a little dress and some heels to treat herself, she headed out.

* * *

><p>That night, it proved extremely difficult for Itachi to concentrate on what he was doing. In light of the news he had received from Haruna, breaking off the engagement was not at the front of his mind. However, once he started hearing the, "Are you listening to me?" being repeated, he reminded himself that this was crucial to his life, to his wellbeing.<p>

"Yes, yes, of course. Go on."

Natsuki smiled brightly. "You are so sweet!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand. Itachi cringed in response, though he tried to do it discreetly. She continued to talk shit about people, and Itachi needed a chance to say a word. Every time he tried, she would cut him off, and the bartender would just feed her another drink. Eventually, he waved away the bartender with an enormous tip.

"Itachi, why'd you do that?"

"Because we need to talk." He crossed his fingers and faced her. "I am no longer in line to be the successor of the Uchiha clan." He looked up. "Unless something horrific happens to Sasuke, but I highly doubt that will happen."

"So?" Natsuki laughed. She hiked up her dress a bit and licked her lips.

Itachi gulped. Oh god. "That means the engagement no longer needs to be fulfilled. We can call it off."

Natsuki giggled. She put a hand on Itachi's knee, squeezing it sensually. "Oh, you're so considerate, thinking of me. There's no need for that! We can still continue on as usual. We can get married soon!"

Itachi shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "No, no. I should have been clearer. I want to break off the engagement."

Natsuki's face froze. "What did you say? You're breaking up with me?"

Itachi was taken aback. "W-well, we were never going out-"

Natsuki glared at him. "This isn't over until I say it's over." Her grip on his knee tightened and he swore he could feel her claws digging in and-

She threw her arms around her neck and kissed him.

…and that was the sight that Sakura walked in on.

* * *

><p>All Sakura had wanted was to forget about her dumb feelings and drink away her problems. Instead, she was faced with the root of her problems kissing each other. She let out a frustrated cry and stomped out of the bar.<p>

Itachi, while Natsuki was trying to kiss him senseless and while he was admiring her great strength for a woman, noticed the upset look on Sakura's face who should not have been witnessing this atrocity, and somehow, he managed the strength to pull himself away from his treacherous ex-fiancée's grasp. "Sakura!" he called out breathlessly (for Natsuki had not even given him a chance to breathe).

"Itachi!" Natsuki growled, and he just cast her a furious glance.

Stepping out into the chilled, night air, Itachi chased after the Sakura who was making holes in the ground from as she walked. "Sakura, wait a moment!" He gently grabbed her arm, but she shook it off, her jaw clenched and her muscles tight. Itachi felt a twisting in his chest the moment he saw her face; she looked exhausted and heartbroken. "Sakura, what you saw in there was-"

"I don't care!" she interjected, digging her heel into the ground. She waved her arms about her face. "I do not care! Just go be with your…fucking girlfriend, if that's what makes you happy."

"No! Sakura, you misunderstood!"

"Is this the matter you had to attend to? Because sorry for interrupting your date!" she spat out.

"Sakura, no. This wasn't a date."

Sakura felt her eyes sting and cursed her weakness. She turned away from Itachi so he wouldn't have to bear witness to this. Her voice cracked as she whispered, "You were kissing her."

Itachi let out a dry laugh. "No, that was forced upon me. I was not kissing her."

Sakura whimpered a bit, and Itachi's keen ears picked it up. He took her wrist in his hand slowly. "…Sakura, are you all right?"

She sniffed and looked at him over her shoulder. Itachi didn't know what prompted him to say it. Maybe it was the atmosphere. Maybe it was the fear that he actually would have to spend the rest of his life with Natsuki. Maybe it was because of the tearful face.

"I have feelings for you."

* * *

><p>Words: 1696<p>

Next Update: lol

question of the day: what was your first kiss like?

let's swap stories!


	73. Admission of Truth

Sakura's eyes widened, and she froze in place, stiffening in Itachi's grasp. "W-what did you just say?" she finally managed to say, her mouth going dry.

Itachi could feel his blood pumping in his ears, and he wet his lips with his tongue, shakily trying to regain his breath.

"I have feelings for you," he said, not removing his eyes from hers.

"What did you say?" Sakura said again, her voice catching.

Itachi sighed. "I highly doubt you need me to repeat myself once more, Sakura-"

"I know what you said!" she snapped, her face flushing either in embarrassment or in anger. She was so flustered, and Itachi thought it was so cute. However, he knew that he was in a similar state himself, so he shouldn't be thinking such things.

Sakura's head was whirling with thoughts, and she could not comprehend what had just come out of Itachi's mouth. She didn't understand. Someone like her? He couldn't possibly- Sakura violenty shook her head. She didn't even know what she was going to say until it slipped out.

"You're crazy." After blurting out her words, she immediately covered her mouth with her hands. She did not what she had meant to say, but it certainly was not that. Itachi wasn't even shocked; he just exhaled lowly and scratched the back of his neck. Sakura had to fix her choice of language. "I mean, there's no way you could like me. You haven't made a move on me."

"I figured you would say something along those lines. After all, I was not trying to make my affections obvious." Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut. "However, believe me. I do have very strong feelings for you, Sakura." He paused. "I have for a while."

Inside, Sakura was curious as to how long he had felt that way, but she reminded herself that he didn't really like her. Sakura whispered, "No." She backed away from him. "I-Itachi, you're confused." She waved her hand at him. "And even if you did like me, which I'm not saying that you do, you couldn't possibly want someone like…me."

Itachi narrowed his eyes at her in confusion. "Someone like you?"

"I'd ask so much of you! I mean, just think of what happened with Sasuke. I-I-I don't want to be a little housewife. Y-You're going to be the next Uchiha patriarch. I-I can't do that for you, I'd ask too much of you!"

"Sakura, I'm not asking you to do any of that," Itachi stopped her, grabbing her shoulders. "Okay, listen, those things don't matter to me, all right?" Sakura's lower lip jutted out, and she averted her eyes. Itachi breathed in deeply. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so nervous. "Sakura, I'll ask you once, and only once, and after this, we can forget this ever happened." He could feel her trembling underneath his hands, but he didn't trust her not to run if he let her go. "Sakura, will you be with me?"

Sakura felt as if she might faint. The only thing keeping her standing was Itachi holding her up. She opened her mouth and closed it uselessly, unable to make her voice work. Itachi waited with bated breath, feeling sweat form on his brow.

Sakura wanted him to hold her longer, wanted to smell him longer, but…she couldn't do this to him. This was the same thing with Sasuke all over again. She couldn't even tell if she had feelings toward Itachi or not, but she could not ruin his life and expectations.

"Itachi, I can't. You're confused. I'd ask too much out of you."

Sakura could feel her heart breaking in pieces as she said it, but she knew it had to be said. She had to protect Itachi.

Itachi felt his stomach drop, but he nodded. "I understand."

"I'm sorry," Sakura apologized, her voice cracking. He rubbed her back.

"It's okay, Sakura. You didn't do anything wrong."

Sakura nodded quickly, pursing her lips. "Itachi, thank you. You're a good friend."

His lips quirked up. "Hardly."

Oh god, he was smiling at her. Sakura couldn't take this. She felt the tears stinging at her eyes. "I-I have to go!" She ran off, leaving Itachi standing by himself in front of the bar.

He sighed and chuckled sadly. "That hurt far more than expected."

* * *

><p>Sakura, despite being back for such a short time, called off of work so she could sleep in. Tama and Pablo had ended up curling up next to her. Even Omoni had slept on her pillow next to her, purring loudly. Her hair was messy and unkempt, and she felt her makeup crusting at the corners of her eyes.<p>

"Gross," she croaked, burying herself in her covers. When Pablo yelped, she was reminded that she still had Itachi's dog. She'd have to return him eventually. She would have to face Itachi.

She groaned, covering her face with her hands. She turned to Omoni. "Why am I such a coward?" He meowed lowly in response, judging her. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't judge me."

She moaned, grabbing for the phone. She needed Ino. Hopefully, she had a shift off in a few days.

* * *

><p>Itachi headed out for a mission with Shisui. This time, it wasn't a mission full of danger or anything. Which was odd to say the least, since Tsunade was a giant fan of making him risk his life. It had been simple surveillance. He laughed mirthlessly, causing Shisui to shoot a stare at him. Perhaps the hokage knew of everything: how her student had broken his heart, though he was not bitter. It was her choice, and he had to accept it.<p>

He eyed Shisui out of the corner of his eye. The news of Saobi would surely be taxing him.

This was all just too much for Itachi right now. He was reminded of everything in the past.

Little did he know, Saobi was doing the same thing.

He was about to confer with Tobi about the plans to invade Konoha. He had to make sure everything went according to plan. However, he knew that soon Haruna would be informed of everything he had done, and oh…he just missed her.

* * *

><p><em>"Saobi, you really suck," Haruna laughed, falling on her ass after witnessing Saobi fail yet another jutsu. Even though Itachi was friends with Haruna, he felt jealousy after seeing Haruna pay so much attention to their teammate. However, it was no matter. He would be getting a new team soon as he was promoted to Chuunin last week.<em>

* * *

><p><em>"Itachi, what do you think Saobi thinks of me?" Haruna asked, a blush coloring her face. They were thirteen, and Saobi was sixteen. Itachi felt that same jealousy coursing through him, although he was sure it'd pass.<em>

_"He thinks you're a teammate? You guys have been on the same team for years now."_

_Haruna looked depressed. "Y-yeah, I guess. It's not like he would like me or anything…"_

* * *

><p><em>Haruna was fifteen, and Saobi was eighteen. They had just come back after a rather dangerous mission where Haruna had to save Saobi's ass again. She had passed out of chakra exhaustion, and somebody was carrying her in his arms. Haruna eyelashes fluttered open, and she blushed when she saw that it was Saobi carrying her. She struggled in his arms, and Saobi growled.<em>

_"Stay still!" he hissed._

_"I don't need you to carry me!" she cried out, pushing against his chest._

_He stuttered, "J-just let me hold you!"_

_Haruna couldn't take it anymore. She just pressed her lips to his clumsily. In his shock, he gasped, and his knees gave out, causing the girl to fall on top of him. "H-Haruna,, this is-"_

_"Just shut up and kiss me!"_

* * *

><p><em>Itachi could not believe the news. Saobi had drowned on his last mission. Saobi had been rather weak, but he had never imagined… Haruna was heartbroken.<em>

* * *

><p>Sasuke walked, feeling his anger overwhelm him. This was just too much. There were so many things he could not do now because of the stupid seal. He was limited to worthless, third rate missions, and he could not go to any clan meetings.<p>

His whole life had been turned upside down ever since his little mistake. It was all that woman's fault. She had seduced him mercilessly, gotten him to sleep with her.

He saw that flash of white hair, and he dashed to her. "Hey, you!" He grabbed her arm forcefully, and she hissed at him.

As he turned her around, he noticed the tiny bump on her stomach. It took him a moment to process the information, but he realized it eventually.

"You're pregnant!" he whispered, reaching for her stomach. She slapped his hand.

"Don't touch me."

He grabbed her face. "It's mine, isn't it?"

She looked at him with a blank expression before bursting out laughing. "No, no, it's not."

"What? It's about the correct timing."

"Trust me, it's not." She began walking away.

"It's mine!"

"Nope!"

* * *

><p>Ino's jaw dropped. "Itachi confessed to you?" Pablo sniffed her ass, and Ino giggled. "Stop it, you're too young for me."<p>

Sakura nodded, roughly petting Omoni who meowed in annoyance.

Ino waved her hands around. "What did you say?" Sakura was silent, biting her lip. "Spill, girl!"

"I said no, okay?" Sakura bit out, slamming her hand on the floor. "I can't do this to him!"

Ino blinked. "Do what?"

Sakura sniffed. "It's the same situation with Sasuke all over again. I will be expected to give up all my duties to become a full time housewife, and I can't do it. He said it didn't matter, but I can't ask so much of him. It's selfish."

Ino looked at her with curious eyes. "Wait, girl, what brought this confession on?"

Sakura told her about Natsuki, and how she saw the two of them kissing in the bar. "I ran away, and he saw me. He chased after me."

Ino stopped her, covering her mouth forcefully. Indignant, Sakura bit her lightly, and Ino smacked her across the top of her head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Sakura exclaimed, nursing her bump.

"You are so dense!" Ino huffed, poking her in the chest. "So, so dense! I don't know how you haven't realized it yet!"

Sakura frowned. "Realized what?"

Ino rolled her eyes and groaned loudly. "Sakura, you. Like. Him!"

Sakura gritted her teeth. "No way, Ino! That's impossible; I'm not that stupid."

Ino huffed impatiently. "How is this stupid? Love isn't stupid."

Sakura could not believe her ears. Why was Ino so insistent on being this way? There was no way. "I'm no stupid enough to fall for another arrogant Uchiha. Not another one…"

Ino's eyes softened. This poor girl did not know how to deal with her feelings. She was so afraid of getting hurt again that she couldn't even admit that she was in love. "Sakura, it's not a shameful thing to be in love."

"I'm not in love, okay!" Sakura choked out, squeezing Omoni so hard he bit her in anger. "I can't be. Even if I was, it would not be fair to do this to him. I know he said it didn't matter, but still, it's not-"

Ino covered Sakura's mouth abruptly. "Wait, what? I feel like I'm missing a crucial part of the conversation here."

"It's just about me not being able to be the ideal Uchiha wife, y'know," Sakura sniffed, rubbing at her eyes. "And he said he didn't care about that, and I just-"

"Whoa, hold on, Sakura!" Ino blurted out, holding her hands out in front of her. "He literally said he did not care! What are you getting so worked up for?"

Sakura's lips twisted into a grimace. "What if they shun him or treat him badly? I don't want him to be unhappy!"

Ino scoffed. "You think he'll be happy with this other bitch, his fiancée?" Ino slapped her harshly on the shoulder, and Sakura's brow furrowed. "Sakura, grow up! Not everything is always going to end up in drama or heartbreak. He said he's okay with it, don't you trust him?"

Sakura had tears threatening to overflow by now. "I do, but he can't possibly like me, someone like me…"

Ino pursed her lips and cupped Sakura's face. "You need to think, Sakura. Think real hard. Hell, you probably don't even have to think that much, just don't make excuses, okay?"

Sakura was still, and Ino groaned. "Honey, get over yourself. Just think about it, okay? Now let's go get some dinner."

* * *

><p>Sasuke saw the white haired woman again the next day. She was sweeping outside the pottery shop, and once again, he sighed at the bulge in her stomach. Yet again, he aggressively grabbed her arm, and she hit him across the head with a broomstick.<p>

"What do you want?" she asked flatly, continuing her work.

"Why won't you admit that the baby is mine?" Sasuke demanded, stepping in her way.

The woman's shoulders slumped, and she let out a long groan. "Leave me alone, Sasuke."

"I'll take responsibility," he reasoned with her. "I'll take care of you and the baby. Marry me."

The woman's eyes widened. "You know I was a member of Yagura's army, right?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It doesn't matter to me." Forcing a smile, he said, "I'm sure we can learn to love each other eventually."

"Go away, Sasuke. It's not yours."

"You take responsibility and marry me!" he called out, but the woman was done listening.

* * *

><p>Rudy was being very compliant that day. Even Mei and Chojuro were conversing civilly with him. Tsunade rolled her eyes at Shizune who was staring dreamily at the prisoner. However, Tsunade couldn't blame her. He was extremely handsome. And his body…<p>

"Tsunade, focus," Jiraya reminded her.

"Right," she clipped, straightening her papers. "Rudy, this information we're asking of is crucial. Please tell us everything you know."

Rudy snorted. "You wouldn't believe me. It's crazy talk."

Mei began to get angry, a bitter smile etched onto her face. Chojuro seemed as if he might pass out. "Listen up, you-"

"Excuse me!" a guard came in, trying to appear composed in front of so many important people.

"What do you want?" Mei snarled.

"The prisoner has a guest," he stammered out. "I mean, a visitor." Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him, questioning why he thought it was so important that he had to interrupt an interrogation session. "I-it's the white-haired woman, your majesty. I mean, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "Let her in."

Mei gasped. "But-"

"I said, let her in." Tsunade dared Mei to challenge her, just by casting an icy glare her way. Mei frowned, but she backed down.

Mei was visibly restraining herself as Jin walked in, and Chojuro was biting his nails, not sure if he had to restrain his leader or not. Jin spared both of them a glance, a hint of guilt in her eyes. She turned to Jiraya. "Could I just- just have a moment alone with him? It won't take long."

Mei growled. "Why, so you can break him out and-"

"Permission granted," Tsunade stated, standing up from her chair. "We'll be right outside. No funny business. Five minutes."

The woman nodded, and this time, Chojuro did have to drag Mei away from the scene.

Five minutes later, the group reentered the room. Rudy was visibly upset, but he had a fiery determination burning in his eyes.

He breathed deeply. "I'll tell you the identity of Tobi."

* * *

><p><em>Sakura felt his breath tickling her neck. She felt herself heating up all over, and a chill travelled up her spine. A pleased sigh escaped her lips, and she leaned into the warmth behind her. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could be like this forever?" a low voice murmured behind her, lips brushing over her ear. Warmth bloomed in Sakura's chest, and she nuzzled her nose into the man's shoulder.<em>

_"Don't get your hopes up," she giggled, playing with the little hairs on the back of the man's neck. He jerked and stifled a chuckle. Sakura snorted and put her forehead against his. "I don't understand why that tickles you so much," she whispered, cupping his face with her hands._

_He pressed his lips to her forehead. "I honestly have no idea." He smirked. "Whatever, you like it."_

_Sakura gave him a sly smile. "Maybe."_

_The man gave her a lingering kiss on the lips. "You're irritating." He pressed his lips to her again, and Sakura whined as he pulled away. "Patience," he murmured against her collarbone. He gave her a playful nip on her shoulder._

_"You're a jerk," she pouted. He grinned at her. He started kissing his way down her body, her chest to her belly to her hip…_

_"Oh, god, Itachi…"_

* * *

><p>Sakura awoke with a start, flushed and gasping for breath. Omoni, who had been sleeping on her stomach, screeched and jump offed her with his claws out and ready to go. Pablo started yapping in fright while Tama only bothered to spare Sakura a glance.<p>

Sakura licked the perspiration off her upper lip, trying to regain her breath. Her long hair was matted to her face and neck, and she sighed. She felt warmth between her thighs, and she couldn't believe that she had such a real reaction to such a ridiculous dream such as that. Rubbing her eyes, she cursed Itachi for messing with her head.

"Your daddy is an idiot, you know that?" she informed Pablo, who merely cocked his head to the side in confusion. Sakura exhaled deeply.

The truth was, she really liked that dream.

* * *

><p>Sakura finally had the energy to go back to work, and she was surprised at how little Itachi came to mind. Ino tried to bring it up every time they crossed paths, but Sakura just brushed it off. She hadn't realized how much she had missed work since training. It was nice to be back in the grind, actually helping people. She also had missed Daru's cute ass, but that was a secret.<p>

Oddly enough, Tsunade had decided to drop in that day and was running some rounds herself. All of the children who were hauled into the room with her came out looking as if they'd seen a monster. Maybe her bedside manners weren't as great as they had been years ago.

After hours, Tsunade walked in with a woman with white hair. Sakura took in a breath. "I had you as a patient before, um, Jin-san, was it?"

Tsunade clapped the woman's back, a scowl etched on to Jin's face. "That's right. Sakura, we need you to do a chakra paternity test." She paused. "Also, this is confidential. Don't tell anyone." She grabbed out a plastic baggy with some strands of blond hair in it. "Check for this guy." She pulled out another bag of hair, black. "If it's not the first, check the second."

Jin sighed. "I'm telling you it's not Sasuke."

Tsunade frowned. "We're checking just in case."

Sakura was getting more and more confused the more they talked. "Wait, what's this about?"

Tsunade shook her head. "I'm leaving this to the two of you." She abruptly left the two women alone, shoving Jin's file into Sakura's hands.

Sakura opened and closed her mouth like fish, trying to say something to her teacher. She stomped her foot. "Forget it! You're infuriating, Shishou!" She looked back to Jin who had an eyebrow raised. "Come with me please."

Inside the testing room, Sakura asked for Jin to remove her shirt, and Sakura could see a little bump growing on what would have been a very hard stomach. "Has everything been going well? The fetus is doing okay?"

Jin nodded. "I've been good, doctor."

Sakura laughed and licked her lips nervously. "So what was this talk of Sasuke? They…Shishou thinks that he might be the father?"

Jin nodded. "I was the one who stole the scroll."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the woman. "I see." She examined the feel of the chakra that the blond hair emitted, memorizing it. She recognized it as Rudy's. Putting her hand to the woman's stomach, she grimaced. This was the woman who had easily stolen a classified scroll. By sleeping with Sasuke, nonetheless. It was impressive, in a horrifying way. "Sorry, my hands are cold."

"Hardly," the woman scoffed. "You don't have to worry, by the way. The baby really isn't Sasuke's."

Sakura coughed out a laugh. "How can you be so sure? It is the right timing."

The woman smiled from beneath hooded eyes. "That's because I never slept with him." Sakura froze. The woman continued. "He was so drunk he passed out when we got to the room. After that it was easy pickings. That guy was way off his rocker that night." She looked at Sakura. "He mentioned you a lot. Cried in his sleep about you. Are you his girlfriend?"

"Was," Sakura clarified, feeling her chakra near the uterus. "Obviously didn't work out and believe me, I see that it was a blessing now that it didn't."

The woman snorted. "Rudy said you were funny."

"Well, you're in luck. Because he's the father."

* * *

><p>When the woman left, Sakura sat in her swivel chair and burst out laughing. This was just too funny. Sasuke had really been had by this woman. It shouldn't have been so funny since she was technically the enemy but the extent to which Sasuke had been tricked was just too much. Sakura left the hospital feeling so good she decided to treat herself to some ice cream.<p>

Sakura was greeted by three hungry animals the moment she stepped in the house. "Babies are hungry, huh?" Omoni was grouchy as fuck as usual, demanding that he be fed right away. She sighed. After putting down the two meals for the cats, she called Pablo to her. She took his little paw in her hand and examined it. It seemed as if it had healed up completely already, and he would be ready to go home. She pursed her lips as she fed the now healthy dog. That meant she would have to see Itachi.

The very thought of it made her sick to her stomach. She was so anxious about it she thought she might upchuck the next time she saw him. At the same time, she really wanted to see him. Moaning, she curled her arms around herself. Now that she wasn't busy at work, the images of the dream came rushing back to her. The way the dream Itachi's mouth had felt on her…her…

"No, Sakura, stop it!" she hissed, pulling at her scalp. "This is crazy, this is crazy." She shuddered. "I do not have a crush on him!" she shrieked at the cats, causing Tama to yowl dangerously. "I can't have one on him." She looked to Pablo. "Right? I couldn't have a crush on your daddy. Your stupid, asshole, clean-freak, handsome, kind, caring daddy…" She stopped, her lips trembling. "Oh, god. Oh, god, Pablo. I do. I do like him." She turned to Pablo. "I should probably get you back to Itachi, huh?"

* * *

><p>Words: 3869<p>

sorry for the long wait!


	74. Nearing the End

Itachi just fell on his bed, laying flat on his stomach. He didn't even bother to shower; he just stripped off all his clothes and relaxed in bed in the nude.

What seemed to be moments later, he felt something hard and pointy poking his cheek. He groaned and swatted the offensive object away, but it was no good. It continued its prodding of him, and Itachi could no longer just ignore it.

"What do you want?" he mumbled, grabbing Omoni's paw. As soon as Sakura had come back, the cat had indeed started getting fatter again. He must have gained at least three pounds since Itachi had seen him last.

Omoni let out a low meow and finally removed his paw, curling up next to Itachi's head. Itachi tousled his hair. It was getting long again.

Sighing, he got up and decided to take a shower, as he was covered in blood and grime. Omoni protested, but Itachi just gave him a treat, and the cat shut up. Turning on the shower water, he began to strip off the bed sheets so he could toss them in the wash. He saw a pink strand of hair out of the corner of his eye, and he was not prepared for the sudden ache in his chest.

He really wanted to see her, but he figured it'd be best to put some distance in between them at first, both for him and for her. Still, the urge just to see her, just to talk to her was overwhelming. He missed her, and he felt pathetic. It had only been a couple of days. He didn't know how he had survived when she was off training.

After his shower, Itachi tried to coax Omoni off his pillow, but the cat would not budge. Despite himself, Itachi felt a smile coming on. "I despise you," he said to Omoni, and the cat opened his eyes in acknowledgement. He reached out and scratched Omoni behind the ears, and the fat cat purred, leaning into Itachi's touch.

* * *

><p>Sakura was outside, sitting with Tama on her lap on the porch. It was hot outside, and there was healthy sheen of sweat coating her arms. She heard knocking from next door, and an unseemly scowl came to her face as she caught a glimpse of the long black hair. It was that vile woman, Natsuki. When Itachi didn't answer the door (he was so tired that he had not heard the knocking), Natsuki looked to her left and smirked at Sakura.<p>

Sakura's eyes widened as she realized that the woman was making a beeline towards her. Immediately on guard, Sakura's muscles tensed in preparation for battle.

Natsuki stopped right in front of her and smirked. It seemed to be a genetic thing in the family, that smirk. "You're that girl from the other night at the bar. The one who ran out with tears in her eyes."

Sakura didn't move, simply glaring at the other woman. "What of it." She stated coldly, her hands making indents in the armrest.

"Well, I think you should know that I am his fiancée. Don't get any funny ideas about Itachi now. He's mine." The woman gracefully flipped her hair and smacked her lips. Sakura narrowed her eyes at Natsuki, but she refused to break down in front of this woman. She had wanted to be the mature one, but…that clearly was not going to happen.

"That is not what he said to me last night." Sakura awaited the storm.

Natsuki's lips pursed tightly, and she had a death grip on her purse. "You're lying."

"Try me," Sakura smiled. "Ask him about my tattoo. You'll see."

Natsuki gasped aloud. She quickly stomped away, muttering things such as "degenerate" and "whore" very much not under her breath, but Sakura didn't care. She had to fix this situation.

This time, she was going to have her fuckin' man.

* * *

><p>Haruna was sobbing in Shisui's arms, his shirt fisted in her hand. Shisui was staring at the bloody letter in his hand in disbelief, fingers gripping it tightly.<p>

"He's dead," he muttered to himself. "I have to tell the Hokage about this." The sooner this situation was dealt with the better. He looked to his wife. He always knew that the Saobi man still had some of her heart. He pressed a kiss against her temple.

Through thick and thin, he would always be there for her.

* * *

><p>Sneering at Saobi's dead body, Tobi coughed out blood.<p>

All his mercenaries were now gone, and now Saobi had gotten the drop on him. Keh, he should have known that Saobi was a Konoha boy through and through. He'd survive, but this wouldn't heal quickly. Staggering out of his residence, he reached out for support from the walls. When he found purchase, he leaned against them, breathing hard.

Clutching his side, he ignored the sticky feeling of his blood and continued forward.

He would not die here. Not like this. Not until he reached his goal.

* * *

><p>Tsunade was awfully serious looking that morning. Itachi surmised that since there had been four people called down here, this would be a four-man mission. His heart skipped a beat when he realized that Sakura was a part of it. Obviously she was going to be the medic, but he still felt he needed more time. Oh well. He was a shinobi; he could control his feelings.<p>

Along with Sakura and himself, Kakashi and Shisui were standing in a line. Tsunade cleared her throat and began.

"Yesterday, a citizen received this letter. It was only to be sent posthumously by the now confirmed for dead Saobi. We are absolutely positive he's dead this time." Itachi frowned. "It states that the new Mizukage is very weak. Yagura's army has defected, and our intelligence has informed us that he is badly injured." Tsunade looked Kakashi straight in the eye. "His true identity has also been confirmed. It is yet another person who is supposed to be dead: Uchiha Obito." Kakashi's grip on his book tightened.

Tsunade continued. "Despite the fact that he originated from this village, he must be eliminated, and now, it's the perfect chance to take him out." She nodded her head at Mei and Chojuro. "These two will help you, as well as one other defector."

She stood up and handed a scroll to Kakashi. "You will be the mission leader. You will all head out in two hours. Kakashi, you will debrief them on their role in the mission on the way to Kiri. I trust you not to let your emotions get in the way," she said lowly, and Kakashi nodded briefly, grief in his eyes.

"These two lead you into Kirigakure, and the defector is going to lead you around Tobi's residence. He knows it better than anyone." She turned to Shizune. "Release Rudy."

* * *

><p>Sakura couldn't help but stare at Itachi out of the corner of her eye while the group was heading to Kiri. He was at the front, to scour for any danger. She was near the back, with Rudy, Chojuro, and Mei guarding her. After all, the medic was never to be harmed.<p>

"Aha, you have a little crush on him, don't you?" Rudy whispered, running a little closer to Sakura. Sakura immediately turned beet red and opened her mouth respond when-

"So you noticed it too? She's definitely got a thing for that one Uchiha," Mei muttered to Rudy. Chojuro panted in agreement.

"Stop it!" Sakura hissed, covering her ears.

The team came to an abrupt halt. "We'll be setting up camp here for the night," Kakashi announced. "We should be near Kiri by tomorrow. Rest well, you'll need your full strength." Even under the mask, it was painfully obvious that he was grimacing.

Sakura let out a pitiful, "Sensei…"

Kakashi snorted. "Stop it, you make me feel old. Now, we're probably safe in these woods as we're technically still in the Land of Fire's territory. However, you still need to keep your guard up. Don't get cocky." He laughed mirthlessly. "All right, let's set up some fires, huh?"

It still got cold at night, and Sakura was suddenly very jealous of Rudy's fur coat. She let out a shiver and huddled closer to him. Rudy snorted.

"Cold, princess?"

"No!" Sakura snapped defiantly, despite warming herself near him.

Rudy scoffed. "Why do women do this? They say the exact opposite of what they mean."

Mei scowled. "Yes, you and your considerable amount of experience with one night stands."

Rudy shook his head. "Nope, I'm talking about Jin. She's just like you and Sakura."

"Excuse me?" Mei spat out, and Chojuro had to restrain her.

"Enough of me. What's going on between you and that boy?" Chojuro pointed with no subtlety, taking a swig out of his canteen. Sakura hit his shoulder.

"He might hear us!" she whined.

"Let him hear," Mei said, finally calm again. "Who cares what he thinks?"

Sakura sighed. "It's not that easy." With that, she spilled everything. The entire group was very engaged in the conversation, especially Rudy- who apparently understood very well.

Little did she know, a certain someone was watching with barely veiled jealousy.

Itachi knew he should not feel so possessive over someone he wasn't even with, but the way she was talking to Rudy and sitting next to him – oh, it made his blood boil. She had even inched closer to him a couple of times, and she was blushing madly and hitting the man. It all was very, very frustrating.

Shisui laughed. "Dude, you need to chill out. Seriously. They're just talking."

"But about what," Itachi stated flatly, sharpening his kunai dangerously.

"I thought you accepted her decision," Shisui said, quirking an eyebrow.

"Maybe it's harder than it looks," his cousin gritted out. He narrowed his eyes at Rudy. "What's so great about him?"

Shisui shook his head. "I have never seen you so worked up over a girl. Never."

Itachi averted his eyes and simply said, "yeah."

* * *

><p>It took less than a day for them to approach Kiri's borders. Sakura noticed Mei and Chojuro's usually upbeat moods turn serious extremely quickly. "As we get closer, we'll have to be quiet. We have to take the guards out so fast that they cannot alert the others. There are four of them. Can you guys do that? Otherwise, we're gonna have to wait and sneak in during the change of shifts."<p>

Kakashi looked to Shisui. "We can do it."

Within moments, Sakura heard the gurgling of blood coming from the guards, and she winced. Shisui had cut their throats, silent and efficient. He gave them the signal, and they quietly dashed through the gates.

"Okay," Mei started, "the mizukage lives at the very east of the village. We're going to have to be very quiet. Eyes everywhere. Take off your headbands." Everyone did so, and Rudy covered his face with his hood.

The trek was very sad. There were starving children in the streets, and Sakura could now tell why Mei was so determined on a regime change in this land. It was inhumane, the conditions there. Setting her eyes ahead of her, she was suddenly afraid. What if they didn't succeed? What if they died? She'd never get to tell Itachi how she felt! She bit her lip, aware that it was such a small thought compared to the scope of what they were doing. Still…

Hesitantly, she reached out and grabbed Itachi's hand, trying to be very discreet. He looked over his shoulder at her, eyes soft. She wondered if her fear was obvious. At least with this, she could let him know that she cared about him in some way. This was neither the time nor place for confessions of love.

He ran his thumb over her knuckles and squeezed, assuring her he knew that she cared.

"We've reached the perimeter," Rudy rasped, pulling out his spear. "All of you stay behind me." The unspoken "I'm gonna kill them all" reached their ears. Itachi gave Sakura's hand one more squeeze before letting go, placing a ready hand at the side of his weapon.

As expected, they were attacked by guards every time they were noticed. Even if they weren't noticed, Rudy would still kill them. They were all disturbed by the amount of bloodshed, but it had to be done. Rudy clearly had little to no conscience about it.

Their surroundings were littered with corpses, and Sakura cringed. This was the part of being a shinobi that she would never get used to.

"There are traps all over the place so only go when I say it's okay to," Rudy instructed them, putting his spear back in its sheath. "They have to be disabled in a certain order." The rest of them waited while Rudy found all the traps and disabled them. After, he awaited Kakashi's orders.

Kakashi frowned. "He has three guards in the main room. One of them seems to be fairly strong. But since we have seven people-"

"We're not going in there," Chojuro interjected.

Kakashi's frown deepened. "What do you mean, we have to go in there."

"I mean," he corrected, pushing his glasses up, "Me, Mei, and Rudy are not going in there. It's important that Mei be kept alive, and Rudy and I must guard her in case of an attack."

Kakashi huffed in realization. "So that's what you're planning. She's going to be the next Mizukage." He turned around. "Okay team, this is the plan now. Shisui and Sakura will attack the strongest guard and take him out. I will take out the one closest in the room, and Itachi will take the last remaining one. Remember even though Obi-Tobi is weak, you still don't want to drop your guard."

"Sensei, who is going to kill Tobi?" Sakura asked, her mouth set in a grim line.

Her sensei stiffened. "I will," he said finally. "Just…I will do it. It's my duty."

"Should we bother hearing him out?" Shisui asked, ruffling his hair. "I mean, I'm pretty curious, aren't you?"

Kakashi breathed out loudly through his nose. "No. I have nothing to say to him. Now, on my signal."

The group parted ways, and Shisui lead them with Sakura in the middle yet again. As they were closing in on the main room, it became deathly silent. Sakura almost clicked her tongue when she realized the guards knew they were here. This had to be quick.

Kakashi flicked his hand, and they barged into the room.

It went so fast. All of a sudden Shisui was on the floor, and there was blood flying through the air. By the time Sakura had realized that it was Shisui's blood, the guard had gotten ahold of her by the throat, restricting passage of air. Sakura growled and forced chakra into her hand, and it felt as if it was burning. Thrusting her fingertips into the guard's elbow, she severed the nerves and heard him let out a guttural cry. He promptly dropped her on the ground.

The guard could no longer perform ninjutsu. Sakura knew she could easily kill him with a pulse to the heart, but she had to reserve energy to heal Shisui. Grabbing a kunai, she slipped behind him, narrowly dodging a knife to the face. Hopping onto the broad back, she placed the kunai at the thick neck. However, the guard used his able arm to hold her at bay, pulling at her tiny wrist.

Sakura swore underneath her breath and willed the chakra into her arms. Slamming the knife into his throat, she dropped off his back and watched him try to remove it futilely, scratching at his neck and choking on his own blood. He fell to the ground a while after, and Sakura let out a sigh. He was so large she hadn't been sure if that would be enough to kill him.

Dashing to Shisui's side, she saw that he was smiling. "Guess that training really paid off, huh," he chuckled weakly, his hand at his side. "The blood goes really well with your hair. Sakura shook her head.

"This is no time to be making jokes, stupid." Looking at the other two men, she saw that they had taken the other two guards out. Kakashi was standing in front of a clearly ill Tobi, who was panting and wheezing. Her sensei was shaking. Itachi looked back at Shisui with worry in his eyes.

She had not time to worry about them. They had everything covered.

"I'm going to lift up your shirt."

"At least let me buy you dinner first." Rolling her eyes, she cut open the shirt and observed the deep gash in Shisui's side. Grabbing a vial out of her pocket, she splashed the sterile liquid on the open wound, ignoring the wailing of "it stings!" She rubbed a copious amount of it into the wound, careful not to make it worse.

"Hold on, Shisui."

* * *

><p>Tobi's yellowing face and sunken in eyes shocked both Itachi and Kakashi. His condition was far worse than reported. He would not last, even if they didn't kill him.<p>

Kakashi pulled out a knife, trying not to tremble. "Obito," he said.

The man weakly chuckled. "Found me out, eh?" He sighed, his unfocused eyes attempting to look up. "I guess this is it for me."

Kakashi felt his throat tighten. "Goodbye, Obito."

Itachi did not flinch as Obito was decapitated, nor did he feel any sadness. Though this man had once been considered a family member, he was a traitor, through and through.

He walked over to Shisui and Sakura, a bit worried. However, he knew that Shisui was in good hands. "How is he?" he inquired.

Sakura let out a soft huff. "He'll live. His side's going to be tender for a few days, but he's going to be just fine." Itachi let out a relieved sigh.

"That's great." He gave Sakura a tired smile, and she felt her tummy flutter. "I'm going to let the others know." He motioned to Kakashi, who was still standing over Obito's dead body. "I think he's going to need some time."

* * *

><p>Mei was inaugurated very quickly. It seemed she was very popular with the people, and Chojuro seemed even more nervous in the days that passed. He'd been given loads of paperwork, and he was still concerned over Mei. However, he really had no reason to worry, as Mei was more than capable of taking care of herself.<p>

Within a week, Shisui was completely recovered, and they could head back home.

* * *

><p>Sorry for such a long wait guys! As you can tell, this is probably going to come to an end soon. School will be ending soon for me so hopefully I can get another chapter out by then!<p>

Thanks for reading!

Words: 3106


	75. Finally

Itachi had never seen Haruna so emotional. She practically tackled Shisui before he was even in the village gates and put her ear to his chest, probably needing the comfort of hearing his heartbeat. Their eldest son then ran to Shisui, yelling, "Papa!" with snot streaming from his nose. Haruna's grandmother was holding the baby, and it seemed that even she was feeling relief.

Sakura smiled at the family's antics. They were so close, and they clearly loved each other very much. It made her heart warm just looking at them. She peeked at Itachi out of the corner of her eye. She desperately hoped there was still time to make her move.

Haruna pulled Shisui into an R-rated kiss, shocking everyone. Shisui moaned in delight, grabbing at her waist while trying to hug his son. Haruna broke away from him with a gasp.

"Abuela!" she barked out. "Take Enho and the baby for a while. We're going to have sex." Haruna's grandmother simply shook her head with a sigh and took Enho's hand. Itachi could have sworn he heard his nephew asking, "What's sex?"

The guards came along with the white haired woman and Tsunade to take Rudy back into custody. He grinned cheekily at Sakura before throwing his hands up, allowing the guards to "restrain" him. Sakura waved goodbye. Hopefully, this wouldn't be the last time she saw him. She cringed at the thought.

"Kakashi, why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" a high voice screeched out. Kakashi visibly brightened, though he tried not to let it show. A woman embraced him from behind. "I missed you," she whined.

Wait a second...Sakura recognized that voice. It was so distinct, so familiar…

"Ino?" she asked quietly, and the pair stiffened. Eventually, Ino peeked out from behind Kakashi, bashful and embarrassed.

"Oops," the girl muttered quietly, still not releasing Kakashi.

Sakura's mouth hung open. "Are- are you two-"

"I meant to tell you," Ino laughed nervously, squeezing Kakashi's waist even more. "There just never was a good time to say 'Hey, I'm dating your teacher,' you understand?" Her lower lip jutted out. "Don't be mad." She finally separated from Kakashi after giving his hand a squeeze.

"Wait, how did this start?" Sakura stammered, eyes flitting between the two of them. "You…I-"

"We went out for some coffee," Kakashi spoke up, the first thing he had said besides barking out orders in days. "And then it kind of went from there." He paused. "I hope we have your blessing."

Sakura burst out into laughter, slapping Ino's shoulder. "I'm not her father," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "This is just strange." She suddenly looked very serious. She pulled Ino close to her and whispered, "So…what does he look like?"

Ino smirked with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Well…"

* * *

><p>Pablo was lonely. These two cats made for good company, but he missed his master. He tried to tune out the sounds of them yowling at each other, but it was no use.<p>

"Stop it!" he barked. "Stop fighting, it's scary!"

Tama hissed at Pablo and crouched. "Stay out of this, rat!"

Omoni hit Tama's face with his paw. "Don't talk to my friend that way!" Tama just harrumphed and decided to leave the two of them, bounding into Sakura's room to take a nap.

Omoni strolled over to Pablo's side. "Don't listen to anything she says," he comforted Pablo, rubbing his head against the little dog. "She's just trying to adjust. She'll warm up to you soon," the fat cat purred.

* * *

><p>Pablo licked Omoni's nose. "Thank you, buddy." They then hopped onto the couch and cuddled together, waiting for their masters to come home.<p>

Sakura did not expect for all three of the animals to attack her with affection the moment she entered the house. Even Pablo, who wasn't even hers, was yapping excitedly at her return.

Sakura set aside her stress and hugged Omoni tight, ignoring his protest.

Tomorrow, she would return Pablo, and she would confess.

* * *

><p>Itachi was extremely upset that someone was knocking on his door at eleven in the morning. The nerve of some people! After a long, stressful mission, Itachi believed he deserved some time off. He swore that if this was someone coming to bring him yet another mission he would tear their head off. Scratching the back of his head, he blew his bangs out of his eyes and opened the door.<p>

It wasn't someone bringing him a mission. A high whine and little paws on his knees brought his attention to the floor. "Hi, boy," he whispered, getting on his knees. Pablo's tiny tongue licked his chin, and Itachi's eyes softened, patting his dog's back. He looked up. "Thank you for returning him to me at last."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me?" she said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Never mind, Sakura."

Sakura ended up sitting on the floor as well, watching Itachi play with Pablo. The little dog's tail was wagging wildly, and Itachi had a quiet, content smile on his face. Sakura could feel her heart starting to pound wildly in her chest as she realized she'd have to say the speech she planned out soon.

"Um," her voice cracked. "Itachi?" His dark eyes looked up at her, and she could feel her face heating. She shakily stood up, feeling as if her knees might give out underneath her at any moment. "Can we talk?"

He stood up as well, placing Pablo on the ground gently. "Of course. But are you sure this is a good time? Maybe we need more time to-"

"No, Itachi!" she blurted out, her ears hot and her body tensed. "I have…words to say to you!"

Itachi's eyes widened in surprise. "O-okay."

Oh god. Now that the moment was finally here, she had completely forgotten what she had wanted to say. Her mouth kept opening and closing like a fish. Finally, she forced words out of her throat, albeit softly. "I like you." She averted her eyes from his.

Itachi froze. "I think I misheard you."

Sakura's lip quivered, and she nervously directed her fiery stare at him. "I. Like. You."

"As a friend, right?"

"No, Itachi." Sakura was beginning to grow impatient. She was waiting for Itachi to process this, but it seemed the genius was at a loss for words.

"Sakura, you're confused." That was it.

Sakura lost it. "Are you purposely being obtuse?" she shouted, stomping toward him. He quietly yelped as she took a strong hold of his shoulders and shoved him backwards.

Sakura tackled Itachi and shoved him against the wall, her lips crushing into his. He grunted and stiffened, not responding. She had rejected him, stating that he was confused, that he couldn't possibly want somebody like her, somebody who would ask so much out of him. However, she could not possibly be more wrong. Her sweaty and sweet scent overwhelmed him, the feeling of her breasts against his chest driving him crazy. Sakura growled at his refusal and broke away from him.

"I get it," she choked out. "You care about that position, too. Y'know what? If that's what makes you happy-" Itachi slammed the wall behind him.

"No, I don't care about that," he grit out bitterly, striding toward her. Sakura backed into a corner, and Itachi gripped her arms loosely. His nose brushed hers, and she nearly whimpered at the dark, passionate look in his eyes, his pupils dilated. His lips just barely ghosted over hers, and Sakura whined in impatience. She pulled him to her, pressing butterfly kisses down his jaw line, causing warmth to rush to his face. "Sakura," Itachi rasped and finally kissed her with abandon, arms tightly encircling her waist. They moved together, and Itachi nipped her. Sakura gasped breathily, tracing his upper lip with her tongue. He opened his mouth for her, feeling her slide her tongue against his sensually. Itachi's hands unconsciously moved to her bottom, and his hips grinded up against her.

Sakura yelped and tore her lips away from his.

The two glanced at each other and flushed, averting their gazes. "I apologize," Itachi breathed. "I should not have done that."

"Don't apologize," Sakura replied, clearing her throat. "It was just...unexpected."

She was panting, a pretty pink coloring her cheeks, and her lips were swollen because of him. Because of him. Itachi would not admit it out loud, but he was extremely turned on right now. Just from a kiss.

"Still," he started, his voice lower than usual. "I'm sorry. I will take it as slow as you like, Sakura. I know you value your innocence."

Sakura smirked. "I never said I would be with you."

He smacked her ass, and she squealed with laughter. "Don't joke." She snickered, doubling over.

"I'm sorry; I just can't resist the chance to mess with you," she snickered. "But seriously, let's feed Pablo and then make out some more."

"Shouldn't we talk about thi-"

"No way, making out takes precedence." She took his hand in hers and kissed. Then she put it on her butt again. "You may touch my butt by the way."

She laughed once more because Itachi had the stupidest looking smile on his face.

* * *

><p>"Are you for real?" Sakura moaned, elbowing Itachi lightly in the ribs. "You can't become the head of the clan anymore?"<p>

Itachi shrugged. "I forfeited that right. I don't want it."

"Why not?" Sakura paused. "I mean, yeah, I know, but still. Why?"

He shifted so that he could sit up while Sakura could stay on his lap. "I really don't want to lead that clan. I don't like that role. It'd be too much pressure, too much politics, and worst of all, I'd have to marry Natsuki." They both laughed, Sakura burying her head into the crook of his neck. "It just wasn't like me, "Itachi finished, squeezing Sakura's waist. Sakura grinned and kissed him, pulling him to her by the collar of his shirt.

Suddenly she gasped and keeled backward, cursing under her breath. Itachi was very worried. Did she now think she made a mistake. "What is it?" he asked slowly.

"Shit, I forgot to feed the cats!"

* * *

><p>Words: 1706<p>

next update: idk, probably soon tho

Hi guys, this is "kind of" the last chapter of your fat cat. i never imagined this story would drag on so long, but it was really fun to write! There will be a brief epilogue after this, and that will be the official last chapter.

Fun fact: I will also be writing a separate M rated one shot set in this timeline with Itachi and Sakura getting down and dirty.

But anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing for as long as you did, and I hope you enjoyed this. I also hope you enjoy the epilogue that will most likely come on wednesday!


	76. Epilogue: Fifteen Years Later

_Fifteen years later…_

* * *

><p>"Sou-chan!" Sakura called out. "You're going to be late, get up!" Silence. She huffed. Just like his father, that boy. "Sou-chan!" she screeched. "Get your ass out of bed!"<p>

"I'm up!" he yelled back, and Sakura heard him stumbling about his room, getting ready. Shaking her head, Sakura cursed underneath her breath. Sousuke, her twelve year-old son, was leisurely stomping down the stairs.

"Sure, take your time," Sakura said sarcastically, tying up her hair. "Be late for your first day, be my guest."

"Shut up, mom!" Sousuke bit out, his face turning as pink as his hair. Unfortunately for her son, it had turned out that Sakura's genes had been much more dominant than the Uchiha genes, at least in terms of hair. She placed a kiss on his forehead, ignoring his protests.

"Take your sister to the academy on your way there." Sousuke grumbled but did not argue. Their black cat Tama jumped onto his shoulder. She had always had the strangest attachment to the pink haired boy. Sakura entered the kitchen, giving her husband a kiss on the cheek. "Honey, what's on the agenda for today?"

Itachi paid attention to the omelet he was making with extreme precision. "Silence, Sakura. Give me one moment." Sakura rolled her eyes while he perfected his masterpiece. Grabbing the ketchup, he squeezed a smiley face onto the eggs. "Kyoko, come get your lunch."

Kyoko squealed. "Daddy! I love you!" She attached herself to his leg, and Itachi fondly patted her head. Finally, he answered Sakura's question. "I'm going to take the vermin to the vet today. It's time for his annual check up."

The soft and slow pitter-patter of feet alerted Kyoko to the presence of Pablo, and she immediately tackled him. She rubbed her head against him, making her red hair stick up. Pablo licked her chin, but he struggled to get out of her grasp anyway.

"Kyoko, let's go!" Sousuke snapped, stomping his foot.

Kyoko pouted. "Daddy, Sou-chan's being mean!"

"Sousuke, I forbid you from being mean to your sister," Itachi said, handing a lunch box to his son. Sousuke roughly swiped it and harrumphed. Itachi sighed. "Make friends with your teammates, Sou-chan. Wait a while before you stop pretending to be nice."

"Whatever, old man," Sousuke mumbled. He stuck his hand out. "Come on, Kyoko! We're gonna be late!"

Kyoko took his hand but immediately mouthed off at him. "But that's your fault!" They argued the whole way out the door.

Sakura shook her head at her children. They could be so frustrating sometimes. It was too bad they were cute. Itachi came up behind her and took her into his arms. "Come back to bed with me," he whispered in her ear, and Sakura couldn't help but entertain the thought.

"I have work, you idiot," she moaned, sighing at the way he kissed her neck. She leaned into him a little more.

"You're the head of the hospital; you're allowed to be late," he pointed out, frowning ever so slightly.

Sakura gasped. "Are you, Uchiha Itachi, telling me to abuse my power? You?"

"That I am, Haruno-san." Sakura laughed and grabbed Itachi by the hand, dragging him upstairs.

Pablo wagged his tail at seeing his master so happy with his mate. Slowly and carefully, he made his was down some stairs and made his way over to the dog bed, already occupied by a fat cat with greying fur. Omoni meowed and scooted over while Pablo walked in circle to "soften" his spot. The two snuggled up against each other, as content as old friends could be.

* * *

><p><em>fin.<em>

* * *

><p>Words: 600<p>

This is the last chapter of Your Fat Cat! I really hope you all enjoyed it. Please let me know if you did, and if you have any constructive criticism, let me have it!

BTW if you are wondering what happened to the others:

-Naruto and Hinata get married and have one kid. Neji becomes the head of the Hyuga clan.

-Kakashi and Ino aren't married but are still happily together.

-Rudy and white haired woman have a son, and Sousuke has a bit of a crush on him.

-Sasuke becomes clan head and ends up married to Natsuki. Oddly enough, they are perfect for each other (kind of).

-Pablo is 17 now. he's getting up there. Omoni, despite his obvious obesity, is now 22 and is still quite healthy.

That's it! It's been fun guys. Till next time!


End file.
